The application of PC-based virtual reality to physics and astronomy

Perhaps the most effective instrument to simplify and to clarify the comprehension of any complex mathematical or scientific theory is visualization. Moreover, using interactivity and 3-D real time representations, one can easily explore and hence learn quickly in the virtual environments. The concept of virtual and safe laboratories has vast potentials in education. With the aid of computer simulations and 3-D visualizations, many dangerous or cumbersome experiments may be implemented in virtual environments, with rather little effort. Nonetheless visualization alone is of little use if the respective simulation is not scientifically accurate. Hence a rigorous combination of precise computation and sophisticated visualization, presented through some intuitive user interface, is required to realize a virtual laboratory for education. Here we introduce DELTA's Virtual Physics Laboratory, comprised of a wide range of applications in the field of physics and astronomy, which can be implemented and used as an interactive learning tool on the World Wide Web.