A Laboratory Always Open for You

The first time I took the basic physics experiment course—a course that is nearly compulsory for all students at the university—many of my classmates truly entered a laboratory for the first time, applying classroom theory to real-world situations.

But what really left a deep impression on me was not the experiment itself, but rather—grabbing a spot in the course. Grabbing a spot was even harder than doing the experiment.

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Unlike the experimental environment I had imagined—one where you could freely explore and try repeatedly—the laboratory had limited instruments and limited space. Popular experiments were often fully booked as soon as they opened. If you didn’t secure a spot, you would have to wait several weeks, or even longer.

And even if you did get a spot, the experiment time was only one to two hours.

After the teacher explained the precautions, everyone would start “racing against the clock”:

measuring, recording, calculating, organizing data, analyzing...

If a key step went wrong, there was often no time to redo it; you could only finish with regret and try again another time.

Back then, I often thought:

If only the lab could be open to us at any time.

Later, this idea led me to form a bond with simulation technology.

If the lab could be entered at any time

It was in this classroom context that I began to participate in the digital transformation of experimental teaching. We attempted to build a virtual teaching experiment platform using simulation technology, breaking through the limitations of time and space, so that students could try multiple times and fully participate in the complete experimental process.

At the beginning of the simulation design, we first deconstructed and analyzed the experimental procedure. Traditional experiments are usually carried out in a fixed process: experimental design, instrument operation, data recording, and report writing. When this process was transformed into a simulation system, we quickly realized that the challenge of simulation lies not only in replicating these steps themselves, but also in achieving real-time linkage between data and system states while ensuring sufficient operational freedom in each link.

Schematic diagram of the virtual laboratory item library

After the process framework was determined, the system first began implementation starting from “experimental design”.

In order to achieve the high flexibility and configurability required by the simulation environment, while also ensuring ease of operation, we preset several experiment templates—such as “measuring a book with a vernier caliper” and “measuring a weight with an electronic scale”—as standard experimental scenarios.

On this basis, the system allows users to freely combine measuring instruments and measured objects, and to configure and adjust them on the virtual experimental bench, thereby enabling the independent construction of experiments.

Restoring the Real “Feel” in the Computer

When implementing the “instrument operation” phase, we continued to use the Unity engine to build three-dimensional experimental scenes, hoping to restore the real “feel” of actual experiments as much as possible in the digital space.

Virtual laboratory measurement content selection or customization page

When virtual objects are given the “rigid body” component, they acquire basic physical properties such as mass and gravity. Combined with collision detection, the system can sense in real time the contact and interaction between the instrument and the measured object.

For example, when a vernier caliper touches the edge of a book, it will not simply “clip through” or directly attach to it; instead, it will be gently pushed away, just as in reality. Only by continuously applying an appropriate amount of force will the caliper gradually clamp onto the book and complete the measurement.

When a micrometer comes into contact with the edge of an object, it simultaneously emits a familiar “clicking” sound as a prompt.

Schematic diagram of a micrometer

Schematic diagram of a micrometer

By simulating various physical phenomena such as mechanics, heat, optics, electricity, and sound, every step of operation in the virtual environment is made as close to the real experience as possible.

A “Virtual Teaching Assistant” Always Online

In the “data recording” phase, the system automatically generates the trend of measurement data based on the data table filled in by the user, helping to determine whether measurement errors have occurred during the experiment.

At the same time, the simulation system performs real-time verification of the recorded data by incorporating the instrument’s preset measurement accuracy, range, and reading rules, and promptly provides alerts when problems are detected.

The system also offers experiment archiving and saving functions, allowing users to review their operational process at any time, ensuring that every piece of data can be traced.

Virtual physics experiment completion page

Virtual physics experiment completion page

In the “report writing” phase, the simulation system integrates various types of data and records generated during the experiment to automatically produce a structured experimental report framework, helping users free themselves from tedious organizational work and devote more energy to analysis and reflection.

When the calculated results deviate from the standard answers, the system can also simulate multiple possible error scenarios based on the experimental data, infer the causes of the problem, and act as the user’s dedicated “virtual teaching assistant”, providing timely feedback and suggestions for improvement.

A Laboratory You Can Walk Into at Any Time

Virtual laboratory startup page

By constructing a virtual simulation environment for real physics experiments, we have, to a certain extent, broken through the limitations of time, space, and equipment resources.

Gradually, experiments that once required “grabbing a spot” have become routine learning scenarios that students can independently conduct and repeatedly explore at any time.

Simulation technology has realized the laboratory we had hoped for—it has no locked doors, no quotas.

As long as you want to do an experiment, you can walk in at any time.