Mineral Awareness VR Experience

The Mineral Awareness Virtual Reality (VR) Experience takes viewers on a journey to learn what goes into making their smartphone. They get to look inside a virtual model of a phone to build a collection list of some minerals that contribute to key phone components.

They are then able to virtually visit real mines using 360^o videos to hear from engineers about what they do and to see what these operations look like. As mine sites are often located remotely and are difficult for student groups to get access to, visiting them in VR is a great way to see multiple in a matter of minutes and also to “feel” what it is like on site.

Six different mining operations are available to visit as part of the experience, which takes the viewer all across Australia. Throughout the journey the user answers questions and is rewarded with mineral elements to take back to their virtual guide and reform their phone.

This experience has been very well received and viewed by 1000’s of students across Australia and internationally. It was a very popular student engagement activity showcased by the University of New South Wales: as highlighted in their article.