StanLab

Problem:

1. lack of well trained, quality teachers to teach science subjects of Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Mathematics.

2. Lack of science teaching facilities and resources; laboratories, equipment, apparatuses, textbooks, charts and drawings.

Solution:

StanLab is a 3D interactive, virtual laboratory application that provides practical science education to students especially those who do not have access to traditional laboratories in lower-middle and low income countries of Africa, Asia And Latin America.

Equipped with 3D-depth cameras such as Intel Realsense capable of gesture recognition, StanLab allows students  to visualize and interact with 3D-models – for instance, users are able to rotate molecules and observe their constituting elements and even perform experiments. StanLab will not only help students better understand science concepts and practice experiments – even in the absence of physical facilities – but also experience a more dynamic and collaborative approach to science education.

Impact:

StanLab will improve students understanding of sciences.

In the last twenty years, the percentage of science students at secondary level in Bangladesh has halved; a trend that experts say has been triggered by the lack of laboratory facilities in schools. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (Banbeis) in 1990, 42% of students chose to study science in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations, which fell to 22% in 2010. Figures from Banbeis reveals 37% of the country’s schools do not have science laboratories, including many public as well as private schools.

A national workshop to identify problems of science education in Bangladesh was organized by the Bangladesh Science Academy in August 2006. Some problems identified as common in both secondary and higher science education include lack of laboratory space, lack of funding, and inexperienced and fewer qualified teachers.

According to the World Bank, the gross enrollment rate for students in the poorer 50 percent of income group was 38 percent against 75 percent among the richer 50 percent in 2005.

Without quality science education, Bangladesh will not have the highly skilled labour that will work in technology industries or start their own ventures to provide innovative solutions that will drive the economy of Bangladesh.

Our solution serves students of  the poor in Bangladesh especially those living in the rural areas with underserved, under-funded schools without well equipped laboratories.

According to the World Bank, Bangladesh has one of the there is a higher Out-of-school secondary school-age children especially among the poor. The gross enrollment rate for students in the poorer 50 percent of income group was 38 percent against 75 percent among the richer 50 percent in 2005.

Figures from Banbeis reveals 37% of the country’s schools do not have science laboratories, including many public as well as private schools in the capital. But rural schools are in more in the lot.

We are addressing this challenge through the design and development of a 3D virtual laboratory that provides the simulations of  science practicals and allow students to control the simulation to provide “hands-on” experience in the learning of science.

Our idea is suited to quality and inclusive science education for especially for public schools because they lack basic facilities of proper schools such as well-equipped physical science laboratories.  

StanLab is a 3D interactive, virtual laboratory application that provides practical science education to students especially those who do not have access to traditional laboratories in lower-middle and low income countries of Africa, Asia And Latin America.

Equipped with 3D-depth cameras such as Intel Realsense capable of gesture recognition, StanLab allows students  to visualize and interact with 3D-models – for instance, users are able to rotate molecules and observe their constituting elements and even perform experiments. StanLab will not only help students better understand science concepts and practice experiments – even in the absence of physical facilities – but also experience a more dynamic and collaborative approach to science education.

We have designed StanLab, our 3D virtual lab,  with salient unique features to provide near real-life laboratory experience for students without access to traditional physical laboratories.

1. Story Driven VR/MR Experiences where students are guided into learning a subject with engaging stories that embodies the practicality of that lab class.

2. The Use of Natural Gestures for Interactivity within our app: Many a virtual laboratory that teaches practical science use either mouse point and click, drag or some use touch as the medium of interacting with the application. Our mixed reality/virtual reality application allows for integration of a 3D Motion sensing device like Intel RealSense for the use of natural gestures to simulate real life experience 

3. Gamification and Networking: Students get badges and stars for every lab class  they complete to encourage them and they can share with with their friends on social media.

We have designed and implemented our own proprietary, dynamic, hand gesture recognition algorithms for  human computer interaction (HCI) using a depth camera like Intel RealSense F200 or SR300 Series. This  allows for use of natural gestures for interaction in our 3D virtual laboratory.

How It Works: Our 3D virtual laboratory is installed  on a computer (desktop/laptop) and along side the Intel RealSense camera program. The camera is placed on the screen and its cable plugged into the USB 3.0 of the system unit where StanLab is installed. The depth camera is detected and given permission to run. A separate window opens up for detection of hand gestures by the camera and then request for access to StanLab. The user can then begin to interact with our virtual lab using hand gestures.