Augmented Reality for Enhanced Chemical Communication

Augmented Reality (AR) is a new technology as well as a field of research sitting at the interface of Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Computer Graphics (CG). In AR applications, artificial data are overlaid on to the real world environment, therefore endowing it with additional information in a new interactive manner. The widespread adoption of increasingly powerful and compact computing devices provides great potential for the development of new powerful applications in many areas. AR has already impacted chemistry for educational purposes, but we believe that this technology will become a valuable tool for enhanced illustration of chemical communications.

We aim to develop fully automated procedures for chemists to visualise structures, molecular properties, reaction mechanisms and equipment used to perform flow chemistry processes. We are  currently developing applications for the AR representation for:

  • X-Ray diffraction data
  • Computational chemistry studies
  • 3D structure optimisation
  • Conformational analysis
  • Transition state search
  • IRC (reaction pathway) calculations
  • 3D structure of molecular orbitals
  • 3D mapping of the electrostatic potential
  • New flow laboratory equipment prototypes

We will also develop fully interactive models on portable devices as “marker-less” AR experience.

Main project contacts: Dr Mikhail Kabeshov and Dr Éric Śliwiński

References
http://socialcompare.com/fr/comparison/augmented-reality-sdks

Uses of AR in Chemical Education:
http://youtu.be/iT2ek8N0VlY
http://youtu.be/iFJCp_m2iVY
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