HaptiChem: Haptic and Visual Support in Interactions with the Microscopic World Elisa Magnanelli 1 , Gianluca Brero 1 , Rosa Virginia Espinoza Garnier 1 , Giacomo Mazzoletti 2 , Alessandro Maria Rizzi 2 , and Sara Comai 2 1 Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24, 10129 Torino, Italy 2 Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo Da Vinci, 32, 20133 Milano, Italy sara.comai@polimi.it, {gianluca.brero,rosa.garnier,elisa.magnanelli, giacomo.mazzoletti,alessandro.rizzi}@asp-poli.it Abstract. Haptic technologies provide physical sensations in the inter- action with a computing system, by exploiting the human sense of touch and by applying forces, vibrations, or motions to the user hands or body. Considering their features, they can be a useful tool in life-science teach- ing, especially when molecules are involved. For this purpose, a frame- work composed of an haptic device and a visual interface for molecular exploration has been developed to simulate molecular and intermolecu- lar interactions . Furthermore, this work evaluates the visual and haptic tool for molecular exploration in a didactic context, performing tests and interviews with students. The final aim is to properly develop the features of the tool, in order to make it suitable for the introduction in chemistry education. Preliminary results show positive and effective re- sponses and learning gains from the tasks. It has also been noticed that the use of such an innovative instrument raises the interest of students in the learning process, which is one of the main benefits of the haptic device. Keywords: Haptics, Intermolecular Interaction, Life-Science Education. 1 Introduction Currently, life-science teaching makes a wide use of visual representations, espe- cially when molecules are involved. Indeed, due to the miniscule size of molecular level, these aids represent an abstract knowledge that can be difficult for students to grasp. Visual perception is usually superior if compared to touch: first of all, it is rapid, while touch involves sensory exploration over time and space. How- ever, visual representation does not provide an immediate method to improve comprehension of how molecules interact with each other. In this context, the haptic technology enables users to apply and feel forces, which would otherwise not be possible. Haptics can be extremely useful in several educational topics where forces play a fundamental role, like in the case of molecular interactions. P. Zaphiris and A. Ioannou (Eds.): LCT 2014, Part II, LNCS 8524, pp. 72–82, 2014. c  Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014