Enzymatic Lab Educational Model

In the biochemistry lab, students run a batch enzyme reactor experiment but never see the molecular world driving it. The enzyme stays invisible, chirality is taught from flat diagrams, and the polarimeter reading changes without a clear reason why. It all stays abstract.

We built an augmented reality learning module for Meta Quest 3 that places the molecular world right on the student’s real desk, with no controllers and no prior experience needed. Robi, a friendly bilingual robot instructor, guides students as they compare molecules by hand, rotate the enzyme, watch the reaction unfold step by step, and even fire polarized light at molecules to see how structure shapes the result. Students stay seated at their own desk and see the real room around them the whole time, which keeps motion sickness to a minimum.

The in-house 3D model is placed on a real table, keeping the physical room visible and reducing the need for artificial movement. Physics-based hand interactions let students pick up molecules, rotate models and zoom in on scientific structures. We used polygon count reduction, baked lighting and reduced draw calls to lower geometry complexity and real-time rendering work, alongside gesture tuning to refine how hand input controls the virtual objects. The design brings 3D art, spatial orientation and interaction together on Meta Quest 3.

What was invisible at the bench becomes tangible. Students move inside structures they could never see, handle them with their own hands, and build every concept by doing and deciding rather than by reading a flat diagram. Built and in use at the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Technion.

Developed at Dana Research Group