Kiel students are revolutionizing physics teaching with virtual reality!

Kiel students are revolutionizing physics teaching with virtual reality!

Today we are reporting on an exciting project by two talented students from Kiel University of Applied Sciences who are studying multimedia production in their seventh semester. In the “Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR)” module, Leandra Freese and Lisa Landgraf focused on developing an innovative educational game that teaches the physics of space in an entertaining way. The result of their creative work and research is impressive.

An interactive space adventure

The game, which the two young women designed during their studies, takes players through four impressive virtual planetary scenarios: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn. Within these interactive museum spaces, players can not only observe physical phenomena, but also conduct exciting experiments and collect samples. Especially in the Mercury space, the phenomenon of gravity is explained clearly and playfully using a bouncy ball. In order to reach some stations in space, players also have to pass a quiz and solve various tasks. This concept combines learning with fun and is an example of the potential of virtual reality in the educational landscape [FH Kiel] reports that the project even took third place in the “NextGen XR Prize” at the Waterkant Festival.

Pedagogical potential of VR

The possibilities that virtual reality offers for knowledge transfer are enormous. Freese and Landgraf see great potential particularly in science education. In recent years, the topic of VR and AR has also gained momentum in the education system. Like an overview of various Educationally relevant offers shows, there are numerous apps that are intended to enrich lessons and make them more emotionally appealing.

The use of VR and AR applications is growing, but there is a clear lack of freely licensed offerings for the school sector. Concerns about data collection and in-app advertising are also relevant topics that should be addressed in media education. Nevertheless, the market for VR and AR applications offers numerous opportunities, especially in the STEM area, where they can make complex concepts more tangible.

The future in sight

Leandra Freese is now moving to the metropolis of Hamburg: She has applied for the “Games” master’s degree program in order to further expand her knowledge. This also includes an understanding of storytelling, which plays a central role in the game being developed. It is exciting to observe how young talents like you will continue to shape the future of education and science.

A well-thought-out balance between technology and didactic methods could ultimately be the key to establishing new forms of learning that also meet the demands of the digital world. It remains to be seen how this dynamic field will develop and what innovative applications await us in the next few years. Until then, Freese and Landgraf's teaching game is definitely an inspiring example of the combination of technology and education.