Teaching and learning through Virtual Reality(VR) is an emerging technology in the last few years. In this article, the development and use of a VR based teaching–learning system for crystal structures are discussed. The VR system is designed as a lab environment where a user can do experiments related to crystal structures. The VR system is designed in Unity,¹ and Oculus Rift S² is used as a VR headset. Currently, the system consists of three phases; in the first phase user can visualize the crystal lattice structures, wherein the second one a user can visualize the light interaction with the crystal lattice structure using a virtual torch ray. The third phase is the X-ray Diffraction (XRD) experiment. In this phase, users can perform the XRD experiment in the lab environment by taking a random crystal from a crystal dispenser machine and placing it in the X-ray machine which identifies the chosen crystalline material and analyses the unit cell. The incident ray colour changes when there is a peak found in the crystal for a better understanding of the user. There is also an interactive display where users can increase/decrease the angles of the radiation and also lock and unlock the experiment to view the diffraction plot for the crystal structure. In many cases, it was found that XRD and the crystal structure is available in the course syllabus but there are no experiments to enhance their learning. Therefore an experiment with 39 participants was performed where the maximum participants are new to crystallography. The study was conducted in two phases; in the first phase, participants are asked to watch video tutorials of the topic followed by questionnaires; in the second phase participants are asked to do the VR based experiment and followed by questionnaires related to overall study and experiment. From the analysis of the study we found that everyone found VR based teaching methods are better than traditional book/video studies. Study results give an average score of 56.74% in comparison to VR based learning approach with an average score of 93.81%. Participants who took part in the experiment found the experience interactive and motivating and found it helpful to learn elusive concepts, which can be learned when simulated. For example, one participant wrote: “The VR experience was surreal and was easy to control. Lucid user experience. Got a view of XRD like never seen before”.

通过虚拟现实 (VR) 进行教学和学习是最近几年的一项新兴技术。在本文中，讨论了基于 VR 的晶体结构教学系统的开发和使用。VR 系统被设计为一个实验室环境，用户可以在其中进行与晶体结构相关的实验。VR 系统采用 Unity, ¹和 Oculus Rift S ^{2 设计}用作 VR 耳机。目前，该系统包括三个阶段；在第一阶段，用户可以可视化晶格结构，其中第二阶段，用户可以使用虚拟手电筒射线可视化与晶格结构的光相互作用。第三阶段是 X 射线衍射 (XRD) 实验。在此阶段，用户可以在实验室环境中进行 XRD 实验，方法是从晶体分配器中取出随机晶体并将其放入 X 射线机中，该机可识别所选晶体材料并分析晶胞。当在晶体中发现峰值时，入射光线颜色会发生变化，以便用户更好地了解。还有一个交互式显示，用户可以在其中增加/减少辐射角度，还可以锁定和解锁实验以查看晶体结构的衍射图。在许多情况下，课程大纲中提供了 XRD 和晶体结构，但没有实验来加强他们的学习。因此，进行了一项有 39 名参与者的实验，其中最大的参与者是晶体学的新手。该研究分两个阶段进行；在第一阶段，参与者被要求观看该主题的视频教程，然后进行问卷调查；在第二阶段，参与者被要求进行基于 VR 的实验，然后是与整体研究和实验相关的问卷。通过对研究的分析，我们发现每个人都发现基于 VR 的教学方法比传统的书籍/视频学习更好。研究结果给出的平均得分为 56.74%，而基于 VR 的学习方法的平均得分为 93.81%。参与实验的参与者发现该体验具有互动性和激励性，并且发现有助于学习难以捉摸的概念，这些概念可以在模拟时学习。例如，一位参与者写道：“VR 体验超现实且易于控制。清晰的用户体验。获得了前所未有的 XRD 视图”。参与实验的参与者发现该体验具有互动性和激励性，并且发现有助于学习难以捉摸的概念，这些概念可以在模拟时学习。例如，一位参与者写道：“VR 体验超现实且易于控制。清晰的用户体验。获得了前所未有的 XRD 视图”。参与实验的参与者发现该体验具有互动性和激励性，并且发现有助于学习难以捉摸的概念，这些概念可以在模拟时学习。例如，一位参与者写道：“VR 体验超现实且易于控制。清晰的用户体验。获得了前所未有的 XRD 视图”。