The use of virtual and augmented reality in chemical engineering education

Recent technological developments have allowed virtual reality (VR) to become more affordable and readily accessible within the gaming community, inspiring its use in other fields, including education. The use of VR in chemical engineering education provides a means for contextualising learning through authentic and engaging scenarios, e.g. the touring and operation of a chemical plant. Given the speed of progress of the field technical terms relating to VR are being misused and there are cases of a general misunderstanding about VR in the literature. To make the field more understandable and to make the meaning behind technical language clear a new taxonomy was developed using a rigorous methodology. The new taxonomy was used to structure a VR/AR application survey and to evaluate relevant applications and research articles in chemical engineering as well as in other disciplines where VR/AR is successfully used. With the goal of testing whether VR can be used as a training tool in chemical engineering, several prototypes were developed with different technological implementation considerations based on the new taxonomy. These findings, together with the technological limitations of the other prototypes, suggested that it is feasible to further develop one of the prototypes. The prototype developed to be used as a training tool in chemical engineering is a VR version of a chemical plant set up in the premises of the University of Surrey. Three studies were performed to assess the use of this VR version of the chemical plant on the main three educational areas outlined in the taxonomy: teaching, training and the motivational aspects of chemical engineering education. The VR learning resource was well received by the students. The results of this study confirm that it is possible to produce a VR experience that students find helpful and achieve a set of educational goals. The study provides evidence that teaching and training in a virtual plant using VR can be as effective as an experience received in a real plant, paving the way for the use of VR as a means of eliminating logistical, safety and other concerns of teaching and training chemical engineers and students on the real chemical plant. The methodological approach outlined in this thesis in creating the educational content allowed for such outcomes to be measurable.