Hands-On Laboratory and Demonstration Equipment with a Hybrid Virtual/Augmented Environment, Along With Their Methods of Use

A system for utilizing laboratory equipment in a hybrid reality environment, comprising:

• at least one first piece of laboratory equipment having at least one feature, wherein the at least one piece of laboratory equipment is tracked;
• a tracking module for tracking a position and an orientation of the at least one piece of tracked laboratory equipment;
• a virtual model, stored in a memory, comprising at least one 3-D virtual representation of at least one feature of an additional piece of laboratory equipment, at least a portion of a part of a user, or a combination thereof;
• an experimentation module that:
• accesses the virtual model stored in the memory;
• receives input from the tracking module regarding the position and the orientation of the at least one first piece of tracked laboratory equipment;
• determines, based on the input from the tracking system, a corresponding interaction between the at least one piece of laboratory equipment and at least one additional piece of laboratory equipment, at least a portion or part of a user, or a combination thereof;
• determines a consequence of the corresponding interaction;
• and
• renders, to a display, a hybrid representation comprising the physical visual representation of the at least one piece of tracked laboratory equipment, at least one 3-D virtual representation, at least a part or portion of the user, the corresponding interaction, the consequence of the corresponding interaction, or a combination thereof.

A piece of laboratory equipment for use in a hybrid reality environment, comprising:

• at least one piece of laboratory equipment having at least one feature, wherein the at least one piece of laboratory equipment is tracked;
• at least one marker that is coupled with the at least one piece of laboratory equipment;
• and
• a tracking module for tracking a position and an orientation of the at least one piece of tracked laboratory equipment, wherein the tracking module accesses the at least one marker.