Our Purpose
Hands-On Virtual Reality Labs (HOVR Labs) makes custom hands-on science laboratory experiences for a wide variety of educational and training applications. HOVR Labs was founded in 2020 as a start-up incubated within both the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at California State University San Marcos.
Authentic hands-on laboratory research is essential
for undergraduate STEM education. Yet the tactile authenticity
required to impact affective, cognitive, or psychomotor learning
outcomes associated with laboratory training remains
underexplored. Virtual and mixed reality (VR/MR) have enabled
increasingly realistic hands-on STEM training experiences.
However, they still lack authenticity with regard to user
manipulation of fully functional and realistic laboratory tools,
analysis of realistic (i.e. user-acquired) noisy data, and the
application of critical thinking skills to draw conclusions from
such noisy (and possible faulty) data. HOVR Labs has developed a patented approach to address these shortcomings while also providing faculty content experts tools for code-free customization of VR/MR training experiences via structured spreadsheets. This approach enables nuanced real-time user feedback on laboratory skills such as proper pipetting or sterile technique which are otherwise difficult to provide. It also offers complete safety from chemical, biological, and radiological hazards and is more cost-effective than a traditional lab. The HOVR Labs platform is uniquely enabling and will be valuable in the physical and life sciences for both research and instructional applications.