Actions and associations: Understanding scientists’ perceptions of public engagement through analyses of open-ended survey responses
Author: Antonio Budano – INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Italy
Co-authors:
- Federico Budano – INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Italy
- Giacomo De Pietro – Università Roma Tre – INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Italy
- Martina Laurenza – Università Roma Tre – INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Italy
- Alberto Martini – Università Roma Tre – INFN Sezione di Roma Tre, Italy
In this work we present an original and new example of science communication and teaching of nuclear physics based on Virtual Reality (VR) system technology. VR systems are currently one of best architecture used for interactive experiences, since it guarantees a complete immersion of the user into a simulated but realistic environment. In recent years it is mostly used in the video games field, grabbing the attention of a young audience. On the other hand, nuclear physics is typically one of the most tough science to be communicated or taught.
Our aim is to show how we can improve our communication skills by mixing the VR system with nuclear physics and how this idea encourages people to approach to this field. In particular, we will bring our VR equipment to show the Belle II experiment with the help of its corresponding VR application which can be used as a didactic tool in physics at all levels: from high schools to university professors. This application makes it clear to the audience how particle interaction occurs in a detector. In fact it is possible to explain various physics concepts by exploiting the best visual representation of the experiment and the elementary particles moving inside it. This VR application represents one of the only powerful tool for “observation” in the science of the infinitely small. Moreover, the degree of detail obtained thanks to our application allows to understand the operation of the particle detector and the behaviour of the particles that pass through it in a simple and cool way.
The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.
Presentation type: Visual presentation
Theme: Technology