MEL Science started offering its Google Cardboard and Daydream-enabled virtual reality chemistry lessons to schools, the London-based company said Thursday. The firm originally announced its VR initiative in mid-2017, having described it as an educational innovation meant to facilitate the process of teaching students about chemistry. Following extensive testing, the new lessons are now available for purchase to institutions, coming in the form of an Android app that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. There are presently 28 lessons in total, with all of them being designed to be in line with school curricula in the United Kingdom, hence also being highly compatible with educational systems in most other parts of Europe.
Simultaneously with the official release of MEL Science’s offering, the service was also ennobled with the addition of a new “Teacher Mode” designed to allow educational professionals to easily control the VR experiences of their students, move between lessons, and manage interactions within them. The company describes the functionality as a VR equivalent of a whiteboard that can be used for illustrating various concepts in a highly effective manner, with the app itself essentially putting students in a virtual lab, allowing them to not just inspect various elements on molecular and atomic levels but even create their own atoms.
In order to additionally facilitate the process of deploying its solution in schools, MEL Science negotiated a partnership with RedBoxVR, a specialized VR kit manufacturer and distributor. Together, the two are offering a complete educational solution that they’re hoping will allow teachers to introduce an entirely new dimension to their classrooms and provide students with extremely immersive and memorable learning experiences. Schools that already own headsets powered by the Google Daydream or Cardboard and compatible Android smartphones are able to purchase a license to use MEL Science’s software directly from the British company. An annual license for the software and its accompanying Teacher Mode is priced at $49.90 per device, whereas three-episode packs for private use will set you back $9.90 each. The introductory lesson allowing you to make your own atom(s) is free for everyone and can be downloaded by referring to the Google Play Store banner below.
MEL Science