A strategic plan for developing eXtended reality tools to teach unit operations in chemical engineering: Defining needs, technology selection and project resources

In 2021, the PILOT PLANT at the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering department at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU.CBE) designed and developed a 360-VR product to support teaching and learning about chemical process unit operations. Given the scale and multidisciplinary nature of the project, a variety of methods and approaches were employed. Learning objectives for existing courses were analysed to establish product opportunities. SWOT and Matrix methods were applied to a range of eXtended Reality solutions to establish product fit. Further, project resources were measured to define constraints and opportunities. It was established that competencies that develop basic familiarity, operating and reporting skills are important in the undergraduate curriculum of chemical engineering students, whilst facilitating the development of many of these skills is possible using eXtended Reality solutions. In January 2022, four 360-VR unit operation experiments were fully commissioned for use by students and other stakeholders as part of the courses offered at the pilot-scale plant facilities of DTU.CBE. Given this experience, this work proposes a strategic plan for specifying and managing projects to develop eXtended Reality teaching tools for existing experiment-based courses.