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Virtual labs range from stripped-down 2D video games, which use simple toggles to control a handful of variables, to 3D simulations that aim to provide a more immersive experience.
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We have limited time, and there are safety issues all over the place.” The virtual world, by contrast, is free of such restrictions. “The real lab is actually very limiting,” says Brian Woodfield, a physical chemist at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, who has been developing virtual labs for decades. For example, edX - the world’s largest non-profit platform for free, online university courses - is due to launch its own lab simulations later this year in a project called LabXchange.
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The idea of ‘virtual labs’ is gaining traction as companies and institutions try to expand their reach, cut costs, enhance student understanding, and provide a different kind of hands-on training for future scientists. Labster has collaborated with Google Daydream to provide 30 three-dimensional (3D) lab simulations for the course, and says that more universities are likely to follow, including the University of Texas at San Antonio. Part of Nature Outlook: Science and technology educationĪrizona State University (ASU) has launched its first fully online biology degree course that uses simulations instead of actual lab work.
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