Molecules in Motion: 365bet students harness VR to break ground in chemistry education

By: 科尔比威尔逊 2024年4月18日

From left: 365bet students Calleway Schmidt, Owen Fink and Kaleb Scott collaborate on a VR-driven project to create a 3D library of chemical compounds. |艾莉摄 谁告诉

365bet平台. – On the third floor of the Sundquist Science Center, a group of enterprising 奥斯汀佩伊州立大学 students are pushing the boundaries of virtual 现实是，一次一个分子.

The pioneering project to create a 3D library of chemical compounds began as an offshoot of 茎的学者 -一个由dr. Anuradha Pathiranage和Mike Wilson，他们很有抱负 researchers into the lab and working on projects from day one. 全副武装 CoSTEM创新教学小额资助; the VR endeavor has evolved into its own independent study course, uniting three 教授-博士. 派内芝(化学系), Cody Covington (化学系), and Saeed Samadi-Dana (计算机科学系) - in the pursuit of advancing VR technology within the College of STEM.

“化学是一门复杂的学科，”Pathiranage说. “我们正在研究结构 一直都是，但通常是2D的. 当学生看到3D结构，尤其是蛋白质 molecules and larger structures, they can understand the concept better. 我们有一个 lot of goals in the future; we are planning to do a library of compounds."

At the heart of this groundbreaking work is a dedicated team of students, each bringing 他们独特的专业知识，以虚拟表. 欧文·芬克，卡莱布·斯科特和佩吉·刘易斯， all computer science majors, tackle the intricate world of programming and coding. Calleway Schmidt, an engineering physics student, meticulously documents the project's 进步，以后将运行一个图形设计团队. 化学专业的阿什顿·克伦威尔 fields all chemistry-related inquiries, ensuring the scientific accuracy of their 虚拟的作品.

"What I'm doing looks complicated, but it's really not," Fink said, gesturing to a 复杂的图表在白板上展开. “我们的项目主要包括三个方面 factors: user interface, displaying data, and gathering information. 我们的最终目标 is mass spectrum, which is part of the interface, but before we can tackle that, we 必须有一个功能基础."

The team's collaborative spirit is evident as they navigate the intricacies of each 别人的研究领域.

"It's a crash course in everyone else's discipline," Scott said. “我们几乎可以解决 anything through communication, whether it's explaining from our computer science perspective what we're capable of doing or understanding what kind of features they 希望我们从化学的角度来实施."

The VR project’s potential applications range from enhancing undergraduate chemistry education to facilitating advanced research in professional labs.

Dr. Anuradha Pathiranage, assistant professor of chemistry, works with students from STEM学院的一个跨学科VR项目. 图左起:Pathiranage， 卡列维·施密特，阿什顿·克伦威尔和欧文·芬克. | Ally 谁告诉摄

"You can draw a compound or molecule on the board, but it's flat," Scott explained. "With VR, we're seeing it the way we would actually see it in the real world because it makes use of both eyes so that you actually see everything in 3D.”

Scott said there are many molecules that have nearly identical chemical structures, making it hard to tell them apart on a 2D plane - but VR makes it much simpler.

“They look almost the same, except there's a certain spot that's turned differently, and it makes the composition completely different,” he said. “在2D游戏中，这很困难 to tell the difference between the two things, but in 3D, it can be quite obvious."

The team's commitment to open-source development is a testament to their vision for VR在学术界的未来. 通过在GitHub上托管他们的代码和文档，他们 aim to make their work accessible to a wider audience, inviting collaboration and 推动创新.

The project's debut at the recent National Social Science Association Conference in Las Vegas garnered significant attention and positive feedback. 第一次公开 presentation—which doubled as Scott’s first 会议 presentation—helped unlock new questions, answers and steps to add to the overall scope of the work.

As the team looks to the future, they remain committed to refining their VR application 探索新的增长途径. 从实现交互式功能 allow users to manipulate molecules to generating complex mass spectrums, the possibilities 是无限的.

"我们有一个 base we're working from now to figure out exactly what we're doing and 加入我们想要的功能，”斯科特说. “我们想要与分子相互作用， break them apart and move them around as opposed to just generating them."

The project's interdisciplinary nature has not only fostered a deep appreciation for the interconnectedness of the students’ respective fields but also provided them with 宝贵的现实经验. 协作实验室环境反映了这种动态 of a workplace where multiple departmental stakeholders blend their expertise to achieve 共同的目标.

Moreover, the students' roles on a project utilizing cutting-edge technology offer them opportunities to expand their skillsets within the project itself and as subject-matter experts, as exemplified by Scott’s presentation as an undergraduate at the Las Vegas 会议.

"We began with a team that lacked a lot of experience in VR, in programming, in a 很多新技术，”萨马迪-达纳说. “现在我们有了一个成功的团队 with the source controls, that knows how to use VR relatively well, how to program 在c#中. They have all these experiences now that otherwise they may not have had until 他们毕业后."

The project is still in its infancy—the alpha stage, as Kaleb puts it. 但这是一个 阿尔法阶段是由可能性支撑的. 戴上VR头显，不可能没有 to be simultaneously impressed by what the team has accomplished and intrigued by 未来的可能性. 让学生们能够突破极限 possible and fostering collaboration across disciplines, 365bet is positioning itself 走在高等教育创新的前沿.