Chemistry - Now Streaming on all Virtual Reality Devices

Have you ever gotten frustrated with your reactions in lab and wished you could see with your naked eye what was happening with the molecules? This might seem an impossible dream, but now you can. Researchers have developed a virtual reality environment that allows molecules to obey the laws of molecular physics while being visualized and manipulated by the virtual reality user. This virtual reality technology has so far been used to observe protein interactions on a molecular level, thread methane through a carbon nanotube, and unwind a helical molecule and wind it up in the opposite direction. As these are 3D molecules that obey the laws of molecular physics, once can manipulate these molecules to see how they fold, how positively and negatively charged particles interact, and allows researchers to collaborate and visualize these molecules simultaneously even if they are countries apart.

Figure 1: Virtual Reality Allows Manipulation of Molecules in Space

            Being able to visualize a molecule is incredibly important in order to be able to study the molecule. Before the technology that we are so used to today existed, scientists would build models using metal, wood, and rods to replicate what exists on the microscopic level. Michael Levitt, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013, shows how vital this process is to researchers as he shares that building molecules is “slow work, but at the end you really know the molecule” (The Nobel Lecture). These stick models might have helped visualize the molecule; however, it came at the expense of the molecule’s movement. The physical models do not have the natural movement or interactions that molecules exhibit and experience in space. As technology developed, 2D simulations of molecules became the widely accepted method for modeling. Again, these had a significant drawback as they existed on a 2D level and did not accurately portray the size of atoms and molecular structures. Whereas physical models had too little movement, 2D models had unlimited movement and do not accurately reflect repulsive or steric forces that impede real molecules.

Figure 2: 17-Alanine Tied in a Knot Using Virtual Reality

Clearly, this technology proves to be an all-around advantage. It makes molecular activity and structures more available to scientists, and makes chemistry more available to the general public. This is not an elite system or technology that is exclusive to big pharma companies or high-end researchers. Anybody who owns a virtual reality device will be able to share in the wealth of chemistry knowledge that this application provides. This visualization method is currently in pilot testing and its use in research labs is being monitored and refined. The pilot models already tested showed that this operating system has another significant advantage as well. The virtual reality imaging performs tasks with more than ten times the speed of traditional 2D models.

            In a world dominated by technology, bringing chemistry into mainstream technology will help change the public’s perspective of chemistry, and hopefully reduce chemophobia. People tend to need to see to believe, and being able to see the molecules, move them around, and understand their structure will allow people to feel a direction connection with chemistry instead of thinking of it as a dangerous, abstract concept. Also, as technology is so prominent in society, by increasing the applications of technology in the chemistry field it could expose more people to the world of chemistry.

Sources:

Article: It's Time for a Chemistry Lesson. Put on Your Virtual Reality Goggles. 

Author: Veronique Greenwood 

Source: New York Times 

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2013/levitt/lecture/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/03/science/chemistry-virtual-reality.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FChemistry&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection