Education can be a great use for virtual reality (VR) content, providing students with a new immersive means to learn a subject. Schell Games – with support from the Institute of Education Sciences – created HoloLAB Champions to teach users about Chemistry, launching it earlier this year for HTC Vive. Today, the studio has confirmed support for Oculus Rift.
HoloLAB Champions has been designed as a fun, yet realistic way for players to engage in chemistry two, 30 to 40 minute-long episodes to teach players basic lab skills, procedures, and protocols.
The first episode, Chemiluminescence, teaches students to mix correct amounts of liquid and solid ingredients to create a glowing chemical solution. The second episode, Identify Unknowns, presents students with a set of substances and, with limited reference information, players must correctly identify each substance.
Depending on whether players can perform tasks safely and accurately they score achievements. Completing an event awards an elemental trophy meaning players will be placed in the famed Hall of Brains. Additionally, a Practice Mode is available allowing players to hone their skills for the main challenges.
VRFocus reviewed HoloLAB Champions for the HTC Vive release, giving it four stars saying: “As a normal piece of VR content HoloLAB Champions is short but sweet, offering an informative introduction into the world of chemistry. This isn’t the sort of title where you can go all mad scientist and create crazy concoctions – there’s Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-Ality for that – but it’s not meant to be. As a teaching tool it’s quite easy to see how VR has a place within education.”
HoloLAB Champions is available now for $9.99 USD on Steam for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. It’s free for instructors, schools, and educational programs. For educator copies, visit the For Educators page at HoloLABChampions.com and submit the requested information. For any further updates keep reading VRFocus.