Design and Development of a VR Serious Game for Chemical Laboratory Safety

The development of VR LaboSafe Game addresses the critical need for more engaging, learner-centered safety training in chemical laboratories. Traditional methods, such as manuals and lectures, often fail to sustain trainee attention, whereas virtual reality offers a risk-free environment to practice hazard identification, risk assessment, and safe experimental procedures. The project aims to improve safety awareness and decision-making skills by leveraging immersive technology to simulate realistic, high-stakes laboratory scenarios.

The design framework integrates cognitive instructional principles—such as task sequencing and scaffolding—with motivational elements derived from self-determination theory to support autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Developed using the Unity3D engine and Oculus Quest 2 hardware, the game features three distinct modes: a tutorial for control familiarization, a training mode for specific safety tasks, and an evaluation mode to assess competency. The system emphasizes intuitive interactions, such as teleportation and object manipulation, to enhance immersion and mitigate simulator sickness.

Preliminary testing involved 10 participants, primarily students and interns, who engaged with an early version of the software. Results indicated a mean System Usability Scale (SUS) score of 58.25, falling below the desired threshold of 68, and highlighted instances of eye strain and blurred vision among half of the cohort. Despite these usability challenges and minor physical discomfort, participants reported high levels of engagement and perceived the game as a valuable learning tool. Future development will focus on replacing text-heavy instructions with pedagogical agents, incorporating frequent breaks to reduce ocular fatigue, and expanding testing to include diverse professional demographics to further validate the platform’s effectiveness in industrial and academic settings.