VR Classroom Immerses Students in Nanotechnology

In a custom-developed virtual reality (VR) classroom at the University of Arizona, students can pick up and examine scaled-up versions of nanosize objects. The classroom is part of Nano 2020, a University of Arizona-led initiative to develop curriculum and technology focused on educating students in the rapidly expanding role of nanotechnology within the fields of agriculture and the life sciences. The extremely small scale of nanoscale objects can make comprehension challenging. Within the VR environment, where science data has been transformed into images and rendered in 3D, students can look at and interact with, for example, a carbon atom. The virtual reality classroom will give students an opportunity to experience...