The Influence of Isolation on Learning in an Immersive Laboratory Environment

Today's learning environments often involve multiple streams of information and entertainment during the learning process. Providing content via virtual reality (VR) can be used to create an isolated and engaging learning environment, in which immersion and interactivity are key factors for learning. Reducing the cognitive load in interactive VR environments by highlighting relevant material can attract the learner's attention. In this paper, we investigate the effect of isolation-based design on the learning experience in a VR-chemistry-lab environment. The lab environment includes a visualization of an interactive chemistry simulation to teach the concept of catalysis using a black box representation. Users can observe and influence the chemical reactions on different surfaces. We present an AB study with 39 participants to evaluate the users' emotions, motivation, learning experience, and outcome. The results indicate a positive effect on the learning outcomes and engage users in learning.