Virtual Reality Field Trips
Project Overview
This project explores the integration of virtual reality field trips into classroom environments, focusing on immersive STEM education. Our current prototype simulates the role of a car crash test engineer, offering students a first-person, interactive experience designed to reinforce critical physics concepts through experiential learning.
Within the VR environment, students operate a virtual crash testing facility where they conduct controlled vehicle collisions against various stationary objects, such as poles, bushes, and walls, each with distinct simulated mass. The simulation visually and numerically illustrates the physics principle of impulse, defined as the change in momentum resulting from a force applied over time.
Video Demo
Future Development Plans
The long-term goal of the project is to assess the feasibility and impact of VR field trips in classrooms, particularly in physics and engineering education. The current prototype allows for simple crash simulation testing, but in future developments, we plan for further customization of the car and its materials to demonstrate safety feature development in car engineering.
Team Members
Catherine Azelby
Eileen McGivney
Collaborators
