GR in VR: Using Immersive Virtual Reality as a Learning Tool for General Relativity

According to general relativity, gravity can be understood as a curvature of spacetime in response to the presence of matter and energy. Students often struggle to visualize the geometry of curved spacetime. The standard demonstration used to aid in visualization, that of a ball on an elastic sheet, is fundamentally flawed and may lead to misconceptions. Recent research suggests that virtual reality can improve understanding of spatially complex or abstract concepts. We hypothesize that an interactive virtual reality demonstration involving masses in a curved 3D spatial grid, with clocks representing the relative passage of time, would support improved conceptual understanding and impact attitude among students learning general relativity compared to traditional methods. To test this hypothesis, undergraduate students with no formal experience with general relativity are recruited to evaluate the virtual reality simulation. The students first take a questionnaire to determine a baseline for their conceptual understanding of general relativity, with confidence-scaled multiple choice and written response questions. The experimental group experiences an interactive virtual reality demonstration in which the subjects can move objects through space and time to visualize how mass curves spacetime. An instructor leads the control group through the standard ball on a sheet demo while delivering content orally. Students in both groups are prompted by an instructor to explore the relationship between mass, gravity, and time, guided by a set of conceptual questions. Immediately after the demonstrations, students complete the same questionnaire and a survey about learner attitude and simulation usability. Few previous studies focus on the conceptual understanding of general relativity, and even fewer examine the possibility of immersive learning as a tool for teaching this topic. Our work addresses this gap by designing a novel immersive technique for visualizing relativistic effects and comparing this technique to existing non-immersive methods of instruction.