Abstract:

A virtual reality (VR) experience and an interactive 360 degree video game about the orientation and sterilization modules of a stainless steel bioreactor (30L) in an university-level biomanufacturing lab were developed using Adobe Illustrator, Maya, Unity with Playmaker, and HTC Vive. Oculus Quest headset will be used for the VR experience. Instructional design of a hybrid course is underway to incorporate the VR experience and/or video game into existing curriculum. This design is intended to increase the effectiveness, flexibility, and availability of the spaced-out repeated practices for the students, aiming to improve the entire learning experience.

Biomanufacturing is a type of manufacturing that utilizes biological systems to produce commercially important products (e.g., alcohol, biofuels, vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, industrial enzymes, etc.) for consumer usages and industrial applications. As an interdisciplinary field incorporating chemical engineering, biochemistry, and microbiology, biomanufacturing plays imperative roles in a variety of fields, such as food, beverage, pharmaceutical and health. The biomanufacturing processes can be divided into upstream (the manufacture of the products) and downstream (the recovery and purification of the products). The key equipment of upstream biomanufacturing is the bioreactor or fermentor.
Steam-in-place (SIP), using pure steam for in-situ sterilization of the equipment (e.g., bioreactor and connections) and medium, is critical of biomanufacturing to reduce the of risk product contamination. The SIP operation is very complicated for first-time users, especially for students from non-engineering backgrounds. In addition, limited equipment availability, complicated lab preparation, long cycle time, high cost, and so on make it impossible to offer pre-lab studying, extra practice or post-lab review opportunities for students. Therefore, teaching hands-on SIP operation in a university-level biomanufacturing lab face great challenges. But having an online video game or VR option will greatly aid the students.
Interactive video games allow users to view and interact with the objects on computers and create unique interactive experiences. Virtual reality (VR) further allows physical interaction with the objects and immersion experience, thus has been used in public education and workforce training in many fields (e.g., manufacturing, food science, biopharmaceuticals, automotive, and logistics). Recent advancement in VR technology has opened up new possibilities to exploit these valuable tools to further efforts to deliver biomanufacturing workforce training and education, particularly the bioreactor orientation and SIP operation labs. Comparing to the video game, VR gives more immersive visual environment experiences that more closely to the “hands-on” experience in the real word.
The objective of this study is to design a VR experience together with an interactive 360 degree video game about the bioreactor orientation and SIP operation, incorporating it into the existing biomanufacturing labs to create a hybrid lab, thus to solve the challenges faced during the existing curriculum and improve student learning outcomes.

Keywords:

VR, video game, higher education, bioprocess, bioreactor.