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Education IT

Science brought to life with virtual reality

By Kelly Ng | 11 October 2010

River Valley High School is the first campus in Singapore to have a Virtual Reality Laboratory and has reported significant success in helping students understand concepts better. Subject Head Biology (Junior High) Chow Ban Hoe gave FutureGov Asia Pacific and 20 teachers a tour of the new facility.

Supported by a funding from the Ministry of Education of up to S$100,000 (US$76,000) over the first three years, Chow invested in a special screen, polarising and anaglyph glasses, and two ceiling-mounted high resolution LCD projectors fitted with polarising filters.

The equipment made up the Virtual Reality Laboratory; but the most important component of the class was the content. Chow was heavily involved in content creation because the process needed someone with expertise in pedagogy and subject matter.

“We decided on three forms of media – 3D movies, 3D anaglyph posters and the molecular studio,” explained Chow. “A lot of research was done before we drafted the storyboard and finally created the animation. I focused on the content and pedagogy while our collaborators worked on the ‘movie magic’.”

Working alongside on this innovative project is Associate Professor Cai Yiyu, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Zepth, a solution provider in immersive technology.

Almost all of Chow’s class (97 per cent) surveyed said that the Virtual Reality Laboratory helped them to grasp the subject better, regardless of their initial level of knowledge. 90 per cent of the students said this new way of learning has generated more interest in Biology. River Valley High School is a leading public school which attracts the top ten per cent of students in Singapore.

“The 3D animation has really helped me gain another outlook in the structure and internal working of cells, plus illustrate effectively the units of DNA, which was very interesting. This is as good, if not better than, a practical lesson,” said one of the students.

“I believe that virtual reality technology would be a key technology to reshape our lives in the 21st century. It already has a wide diversity of impressive and practical applications, such as 3D medical imaging, military training, visualisation of complex scientific data, and molecular modelling,” added Chow. “3D environment enables students to reach many complex worlds – from biomolecules to solar system – to gain a deeper and better understanding of difficult concepts.”

Biology resources have been created for all levels of students aged 13 to 17. Topics include cell structure and function, microorganism, cell ultra-structuer and function, cell division and genetics of viruses.

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