I find myself increasingly hungry for passive, educational Rift experiences.

VR’s ability to so easily inspire wonder is a powerful tool for anyone trying to convey big ideas – particularly in science and nature. Steven Florence recently released a project that he created for Sheffield Hallam University that allows you to examine the bloodstream from the size of a red blood cell. It is an extremely brief experience, and is far from perfect but it gestures towards a really fun way to learn about the body.

I like that it layers on each element of the blood one by one, accompanied by a brief description, this certainly helps you process and appreciate what you’re seeing. At the end of the demo, you are able to slow down time, allowing you to get a better look at each type of cell.

The voice over, also available in Italian, is clear and informative but I must confess that I did find it quite easy to get lost watching the cells go by and fail to take in some of what was being said. It might have been nice to see some visualisation of some of the functions being talked about. For example, witnessing platelets and white blood cells at work – this would almost certainly help improve knowledge retention as well. I’d also like to see further strides towards ‘realism’ – for example having the artery walls pulse and the blood move with the rhythm of a heartbeat, although this might make the motion of the cells even more distracting.

The most impactful improvement that could be made right now, would be the addition of positional tracking. You really want to be able to dodge the blood cells as they flow past you. For some reason, unplugging the camera helps reduce how often they fly into your face – which can be quite unpleasant. There is a strange discolouration effect that occurs if anything gets too close to you, but it’s hard to say if that really improves the sensation.

Even as basic as the demo is in terms of animation, it is still pretty enthralling content in VR and it’s all too brief. I’d love to see it developed into a fuller journey through the body, and I hope Steven is able to continue to work on the project. Even now, it’s worth checking out if you’re interested in the educational side of VR, or if you’ve got a biology test coming up.

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