Project: The Virtual Periodic Table 

(Pilot Development of an Open-Source VR Educational Resource)

The Context & Problem 

Learning the 118 elements is a cornerstone of science education, but traditional rote memorization is notoriously dull. Existing physical materials are inefficient, and bringing VR into classrooms is usually blocked by high costs and heavy technical barriers. Our goal? Revolutionize chemistry education by bringing the periodic table into an interactive, immersive spatial reality.

My Role: 

Research Assistant & Co-Author (Mahidol University) I spearheaded the research for auto-generated 3D models, acting as the formal analysis advisor for Blender and 3D printing. I also contributed heavily to prototype scripting, mesh optimization, Python troubleshooting, and editing our final publication manuscript.

The Process: Building an Automated Pipeline 

To create a scalable and accessible solution, we bypassed manual modeling and built a highly automated 3D asset generation pipeline:

• Algorithmic Generation: Utilized Python scripting in Blender to auto-generate customizable element blocks in 10 different languages instantly.
• Optimization: Troubleshot severe text-to-mesh topology issues (which caused shading artifacts) by shifting to simpler vector typefaces to ensure clean, uniform VR geometry.
• Automated Deployment: Leveraged Puppeteer (Node.js) to automate web interactions, uploading files for .glTF conversion and seamlessly passing them into MolecularWebXR.
• Physical Accessibility: Advised on translating 3D models into STL files for offline 3D printing, providing tactile alternatives for visually impaired students or classrooms without VR hardware.

The Solution & Impact 

The final deliverable is an entirely free, zero-friction VR playground hosted on MolecularWebXR.org. It runs directly in a web browser with no registration or installation required! Students can grab, resize, and arrange blocks for gamified learning, like multiplayer word-building.

Recognition: 

Our findings and methodologies were published in the peer-reviewed journal Molecular Catalysis (Volume 585, 2025). By open-sourcing our workflow, we successfully lowered the technical barrier for teachers adopting VR and established an extensible framework for future researchers.