Educational Effect of Molecular Dynamics Simulation in a Smartphone Virtual Reality System

Students have difficulty understanding complex molecular structures and chemical bonds in a two-dimensional media such as textbooks and writing on the blackboard. Teachers also use molecular models or viewers to teach, but the cost of using them is not negligible. To easily share the molecular images of experts and enhance the understanding and motivation of novices, we have developed a prototype of a standalone smartphone virtual reality (VR) interface with a molecular dynamics (MD) simulator for chemical education, called VR-MD. In this application, users can touch, and move molecules whose coordinates are updated in real time by the MD engine. For teachability and safety, we adopted handheld VR glasses and a VR/augmented reality (AR) mode changer responsive in the state of the user's hand. As a demonstration experiment, we conducted on-site lectures at a high school with one of these applications was provided for each student. A 7-point scale and a free-response questionnaire were administered following the lecture. The results confirmed the effectiveness of the program for improving comprehension and the motivation to learn.