Virtual Reality Laboratories : An Ideal Solution to the Problems Facing Laboratory Setup and Management

with computer hardware and software and presented to the user in such a way that it appears and feels like a real environment. This technology has been applied in all walks of life especially in education where it is used to simulate learning environments. So many universities and military establishments had adopted this technology and this had improved the learning capability of users. This paper presented lack of laboratory experience as the major problem associated with learning in science and engineering in Nigeria, and the way to overcome the problem through the use of virtual reality technology to simulate virtual reality laboratories. I. INTRODUCTION Imagine you are inside a car driving without actually being inside that car; you as a pilot is undergoing training, flying, landing and crashing a plane without actually being inside that plane; you as a computer engineer, diagnoses faults and assembles computer systems without actually working with the real physical components. Imagine yourself as a surgeon, walks into an operating theatre, cut open the heart of a patient to change a defective valve. The scenarios described have been made possible through a technology known as virtual reality (VR). There were no real plane, real computer systems, real car and real patient. Everything was a computer simulation [1]. VR is an emerging technology on the horizon that will virtually place anyone in any experience desired [2]. It has had a wide acceptance in all walks of life. Visualization and conduct of laboratory experiments are the most effective ways to simplify and clarify the comprehension of complex theory. Learning in engineering and science is a combination of understanding, conceptualization and practical experience. Therefore, learning in these fields today has been hampered by the absence or inadequacy of equipped laboratories, which no doubt have pitfalls such as constraints of time schedule, supervision, materials and cost. One way to overcome these difficulties is to use simulation programs to create learning environments such as VR laboratories. Computer-based virtual learning environments (VLEs) such as VR