Quantitative Liquid Simulation in an Interactive 3D Virtual Laboratory

Onlabs is an interactive 3D Virtual Biology Laboratory used for the training of students in making proper use of the lab equipment and carrying out various experiments. In Onlabs, among other tasks, the user needs to create various solutions and mix them at fixed ratios in order to produce 500ml of 10X TBE solution; hence the need for realistic simulations of the respective chemistry procedures including precise quantitative representation and measurements of liquid volumes. In this paper, we present the techniques we have designed and developed in Onlabs's latest version (v. 2.1) for the realistic, yet relatively costless, simulation of the liquids inside various vessels as well as the liquid transfer between them with the use of an electronic pipette.