ViReal4STEM Partners meet to refine the Future of STEM with VR
On November 4th and 5th, 2024, the ViReal4STEM consortium gathered in person for our Transnational Project Meeting (TPM). Hosted by our partner 4Experience in the beautiful city of Bielsko-Biala, Poland, the meeting brought together all project partners to review our progress, refine our Virtual Reality (VR) scenarios, and plan the exciting next steps for the project.
Here is a look at what we accomplished during these two productive days:
Refining Our VR Scenario
A major focus of the meeting was analyzing the results from our expert panel on Scenario Development, presented by the University of Burgos (UBU). To ensure our VR experiences truly resonate with students, we agreed on several key enhancements:
- Deepening the Narrative: We are refining the storylines to highlight the "human" side of STEM. This includes showing the hard work, self-doubt, and perseverance required for success, rather than just the final victory.
- Enhancing Interactivity: We decided to make conversations more engaging by adding interactive dialogue options. Users will now be able to choose how they respond to questions from teachers or juries, creating a stronger sense of agency.
- Real-World Connections: We are strengthening the link between abstract science concepts and real-world problems, such as improving soil quality or solving environmental issues, to show students the tangible impact of STEM careers.
Optimizing the App Experience
We also reviewed the Pilot App Validation results, which gathered 200 comments from experts and our target audience. The feedback was very positive, yet the comments suggested minor improvements to make the app more user-friendly:
- Better Navigation: We will introduce a virtual joystick and clear button prompts to help users move and interact with objects more intuitively.
- Tutorials & Guidance: A new tutorial section will be added to help users learn VR mechanics before diving into the main scenarios.
- Immersive Features: We are adding more sound effects and haptic feedback (vibration) to mimic emotions, like a heartbeat when a character feels nervous, to deepen the immersion.
Promoting Inclusivity (WP4)
Our dissemination partners, Siglo22, led a crucial discussion on our promotional strategy. In line with the project’s core values, each partner is doing dissemination activities that aims at promoting the STEM disciplins among a diverse target audience, especially girls, to ensure a more inclusive STEM education.
Quality and Impact
Ensuring the project maintains high standards, Kveloce presented the Quality Report for the pilot app. The results were highly encouraging, with all aspects of the app scoring above 4 out of 5. The report noted that "app interactivity" was the only area scoring slightly lower, which validated the consortium’s decision during earlier sessions to implement more interactive features and object manipulation.
Looking Ahead
The meeting concluded with a clear roadmap for the coming months. We left Poland energized and committed to our goal: envisioning a more inclusive future in STEM through the power of Virtual Reality.
