This study compared the educational effects of computer simulations developed in a hyper-realistic virtual environment with the educational effects of either traditional schematic simulations or a traditional optics laboratory. The virtual environment was constructed on the basis of Java applets complemented with a photorealistic visual output. This new virtual environment concept, which we call hyper-realistic, transcends basic schematic simulation; it provides the user with a more realistic perception of a physical phenomenon being simulated. We compared the learning achievements of three equivalent, homogeneous groups of undergraduates—an experimental group who used only the hyper-realistic virtual laboratory, a first control group who used a schematic simulation, and a second control group who used the traditional laboratory. The three groups received the same theoretical preparation and carried out equivalent practicals in their respective learning environments. The topic chosen for the experiment was optical aberrations. An analysis of variance applied to the data of the study demonstrated a statistically significant difference (p value <0.05) between the three groups. The learning achievements attained by the group using the hyper-realistic virtual environment were 6.1 percentage points higher than those for the group using the traditional schematic simulations and 9.5 percentage points higher than those for the group using the traditional laboratory

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In a previous work [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A29, A209 (2012)], we presented a visual color discrimination experiment whose results established the existence of a relationship between the correlated color temperature (CCT) of a light source and the color discrimination capacities of the observers. The results indicated the existence of a statistically significant difference in the color discrimination of unequal sample pairs when using light sources of different color temperatures, with the discrimination capacity being greater the higher the light source's color temperature. That previous work employed an RGBA-LED light source configured with three color temperatures: 2800, 5000, and 6500 K. In order to go a further step in this line, this work expanded the range of color temperatures up to 9700 K. The results showed that there is an optimum CCT of around 5000 K at which observers were found to have a greater color discrimination capability.

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It is well known that men and women may experience, perceptually and cognitively, the appearance of color differently. One of the possible physiological factors underlying these differences is a sexual dimorphism in the gene that encodes the photopigment of the long-wavelength-sensitive cones in the retina, manifest in a different frequency of expression in men and women. The present work describes a psychophysical experiment that revealed significant differences in color perception between men and women, and that consequently advises the separate treatment of the two populations.