Stimulating chemistry curiosity through virtual experiences

The aim of this project is to develop a set of comprehensive and realistically implementable game design and production guidelines for a virtual curiosity lab for children at the age of 8-14 years old. Here, the virtual curiosity lab is a virtual or mixed reality environment where children are given the freedom to experiment and investigate in a safe manner. Typically, the virtual curiosity lab will be themed around a specific subject, such that children are given the opportunity to develop a curiosity for the given subject. During this research, we will focus on chemistry. The virtual curiosity lab can take place within a home or school environment. The aim of this project will be accomplished by first investigating existing game design and production guidelines to identify gaps in the literature. Parties in the game development industry will be involved in order to identify their needs in terms of guidelines. Afterwards, new proposed guidelines will be tested on a case-by-case basis, finally leading to a full case study with chemistry as the main subject. Additionally, we will look at various immersive technologies appropriate for the target audience and their impact on design and production guidelines. The quickly developing technological landscape will be followed, such that the developed design guidelines can remain as future-proof as possible.