Orbital Battleship: A Multiplayer Guessing Game in Immersive Virtual Reality

Abstract

Orbital Battleship, published in 2016 in this Journal, is a hands-on competitive exercise which has been shown to be an efficient tool to reinforce the knowledge of the atomic structure. We decided to give it a more futuristic look and are presenting VR Orbital Battleship, a completely immersive collaborative experience which, in contrast to the pen-and-paper version, guarantees that students are unable to fill in an erroneous electron configuration thanks to the special control elements of the game. Hence, they are motivated to do their best in order to apply Madelung’s rule and Hund’s rule right to be able to start the game. The game design makes full use of what the immersive virtual reality has to offer: the headset completely immerses the player in the process of the game, resulting in less distraction compared to the classic version. Furthermore, the game’s design is user-friendly and intuitive, and thus, it adds to the overall immersive experience. The game is recommended for use as an interactive addition to school and university classes that are dedicated to the atomic structure. VR Orbital Battleship is available for free worldwide in both a portable mobile platform (Oculus Go) and a PC version by downloading the game (see the Supporting Information of this paper).

A Framework for Personalized Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Learning Environments with Gamified Design in Education

“…The improvements in VR hardware throughout the last decade have led many researchers to reformulate Virtual Environments for educational purposes and to further explore the potential of VR in the field of education. In certain cases, VR has been used passive learning [11]; while in other cases, the student is offered the opportunity of integrating with the virtual world as part of the learning [12,13].…”

“…Mapping gamification techniques to educational applications is a way to pique students' interest, engage and motivate them in the learning process. Hung et al [16] developed a Digital Game-Based Learning (DGbL) environment for elementary school mathematics based on e-books. Although the application was not supported by a VR approach, it demonstrates the effectiveness of implementing gamification strategies in Learning Environments with immersive technologies.…”

“…Rychkova et al [13] presented "Orbital Battleship", a game-based VR application that combined educational content in the field of chemistry with multiplayer gameplay. The application produced beneficial results for students, exceeding the authors' expectations.…”

“…Wilson et al [17] evaluated a VR ophthalmoscopy training application using gamification techniques, such as in-app, virtual awards to capture students' attention and keep them engaged throughout the procedure. Students felt a sense of accomplishment, which is one of the intrinsic factors that can lead to student retention and engagement.…”

“…The element of interaction between the user and the virtual environment is a fundamental aspect of VR. Over the years, researchers and developers have used the term "Virtual Reality" to refer to a wide range of hardware devices such as CAVE VR [19], Desktop VR [3], Mobile VR [20], Head Mounted Device VR [13] glasses using stereoscopic imaging technology [21] and more. During the last decade, VR finally laid the groundwork for mass acceptance.…”