Visualizing 3D Molecular Structures Using an Augmented Reality App

We present a simple procedure to make an augmented reality app to visualize any chemical 3D model. The molecular structure may be based on crystallographic data or from computational modeling. This guide is made in such a way that no programming skills are needed, and the procedure uses free softwar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of chemical education Vol. 97; no. 5; pp. 1487 - 1490
Main Authors Eriksen, Kristina, Nielsen, Bjarne E, Pittelkow, Michael
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Easton American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc 12.05.2020
American Chemical Society
Subjects
3-D technology
Augmented reality
Crystallography
Molecular structure
Software
Three dimensional models
First-Year Undergraduate/General
High School/Introductory Chemistry
Computer-Based Learning
General Public
Elementary/Middle School Science
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Summary:We present a simple procedure to make an augmented reality app to visualize any chemical 3D model. The molecular structure may be based on crystallographic data or from computational modeling. This guide is made in such a way that no programming skills are needed, and the procedure uses free software and provides a way to visualize 3D structures that are normally difficult to comprehend in the 2D space of paper. The process can be applied to make a 3D representation of any 2D object, and we envisage the app to be useful when visualizing simple stereochemical problems, when presenting a complex 3D structure on a poster presentation or even in audio-visual presentations. The method works for all molecules including small molecules, supramolecular structures, MOFs, and biomacromolecules.
ISSN:0021-9584
1938-1328
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b01033