Category: MEL Chemistry VR

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MEL Science has Begun Selling VR Chemistry Lessons to Schools

Earlier this year VRFocus reported on education service MEL Science launching a new virtual reality (VR) app called MEL Chemistry VR covering the main K-12 curriculum topics. Today, the company has announced it is now selling its VR chemistry lessons into schools in the UK.

MEL Chemistry VR

The company launched a series of initiatives in order to make its way into schools, including a new feature, called “teacher mode”, that allows school teachers to use the company’s VR lessons in the classroom. MEL Science has also partnered with RedBoxVR, a company that manufactures and distributes VR kits to UK schools, and released 28 VR chemistry lessons that follow school curriculums.

Using the new “teacher mode” education professionals can guide a classroom of students through a VR chemistry lesson. Rather than use slides or a whiteboard, the teacher can illustrate concepts with an immersive VR experience that puts students in a virtual lab where they can zoom down to the atomic level, fly through the molecular makeup of chemicals and even build their own atoms.

MEL Science was founded by Vassili Philippov, Ph.D in Mathematics, who was inspired by his children to start MEL Science. He noticed his kids needed a more interactive way to understand the abstract concepts in subjects like chemistry, and believed VR could help bring their lessons to life.

MEL Chemistry VR Periodic Table

“The biggest challenge for chemistry teachers is to visualise basic chemistry concepts,” said Phillipov in a statement. “We believe that VR is a great tool to explain the things that cannot be seen.”

The 28 VR chemistry lessons are now available on Google Cardboard and Google Daydream devices. The lessons are divided into three sets with MEL Science keeping the lessons short and informative, running between three to seven minutes in length. Each set is available for purchase on Google Play for individual users for $9.90 USD. A one year license for the school version that includes teacher mode costs $49.90 per device.

MEL Science’s partnership with RedBoxVR will allow UK schools to affordably purchase VR hardware with MEL Science’s chemistry lessons already integrated. For schools with existing VR hardware, a school license for the chemistry lessons can be purchased directly from MEL Science.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of VR in education, reporting back with the latest announcements.

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Kids can Learn Chemistry with MEL Science’s new VR app

One of the many uses virtual reality (VR) technology is being put to is education, covering a great swath of subjects whether its for children just beginning to learn a subject or adults mastering one. For the youngsters MEL Science has today launched a new virtual reality (VR) app called MEL Chemistry VR, focused just on the science subject.

With MEL Chemistry VR, the app lets users access a multitude of lessons, all of which cover the main K-12 curriculum topics, and are designed to be used at home or in the classroom, with a special version for educators coming out soon. For the launch the first six lessons are free to download: Atoms in Solids, Atoms in Gases, Atom Structure, Electron Orbitals, Isotopes and Orbital Names, all giving a basic understanding of chemistry.

MEL Chemistry VR_1

Supporting the Google Daydream head-mounted display (HMD) users will be taken into a virtual lab where they can choose what they want to learn then dive into a world only possible in VR. They’ll be able to get right down to the molecular level to see atoms, witness chemical reactions and see how these building blocks of life all fit together.

Kids will be able to disassemble an atom, seeing its fundamental protons, neutrons and electrons, or they can create their own, all using th eGoogle Daydream controller. The app will also test their knowledge, asking questions on what they’ve just learnt.

MEL Science has kept the lessons short and informative, running between three to seven minutes in length. “After 3-7 minutes, a child’s ability to keep absorbing new information drops,” states the compnay. “But during these minutes, their attention is complete and their learning is intense.”

At launch MEL Chemistry VR will have around 30-50 lessons, rising to 80-150 in 2018. The demo is available now with the full release coming later this year.

 

VRFocus will continue its coverage of VR in education, reporting back with the latest announcements.