Immersive Chemistry Podcast

Sanne van Loenen has been researching game technologies such as virtual reality to create immersive experiences for young children in the context of chemistry. This research is being conducted at LuGus Studios and in collaboration with KU Leuven.

In this episode, she discusses a virtual reality fume hood which she has been working on which is designed for the classroom.

In this episode we talk with Michael Dumin, an early-stage researcher at the Department of Chemical Engineering (CIT) at KU Leuven, Belgium. As part of the CHARMING Project, his topic is “Chemistry and chemical-engineering concepts for kids”. He is exploring how fundamental chemical principles are translated into intuitive activities, so that children can learn basic concepts in a playful approach.

The use of immersive technologies for training in the chemical industry is growing. 

One organisation which has began to develop and implement their own VR and AR training solutions is ACTA. 

ACTA is a training and education center for the chemical industry in Flanders, Belgium, in the domain of chemical process techniques, process control technology and safety.

In this episode, we spoke with Sarah Pascal who focuses on digital learning in the organisation. Sarah provides details of the applications ACTA is developing and also offers valuable advice for any organisation looking to implement similar training solutions.

There is a growing interest in the use of digital games in higher education. In this episode, we talk with Chioma Udeozor about her research into the perceptions and attitude towards the use of games for learning among chemical engineering students at the University Newcastle in the UK.

In this episode of the podcast, we speak with PhD Candidates and fellow Early Stage Researchers, Sofia Garcia Fracaro and Yusra Tehreem about a VR Chemical Reactor training prototype they have been working on. Sofia is carrying out research on the effectiveness and efficiency of immersive learning environments and serious gaming applications when applied for the training of chemical operators and technicians. Yusra's research objective is to explore the use of immersive VR/AR training simulators for the advanced training of employees in the chemical industry.

In this episode, we speak with Silvia Fornós who is taking games-based learning research into an interesting direction, by exploring how games making can be used as an educational strategy. Silvia is a PhD Researcher at IT University Copenhagen and a CHARMING project Early Stage Researcher. She has experience working in the games industry throughout Europe.

Do students learn better with games than with conventional media? This is one of the central research questions of our guest.  In this episode, we speak with Yuanyuan Hu, one of the researchers of the CHARMING Project who is exploring game-based learning in order to find some answers.

The topic of this episode is Escape Rooms and their function as immersive learning environments. We discuss a prototype developed by Merck, designed for health and safety environment training. We talk with two PhD researchers on the CHARMING Project, Sofia Garcia Fracaro and Michael Dumin, and ask them about their experience completing the Merck escape room. They share their ideas about escape rooms as learning environments and the benefits and challenges that come along with this type of immersive learning environment.