There’s a groundbreaking new way to explore and learn about the Lehigh Valley’s industrial and environmental stories.

A series of six immersive and interactive learning experiences – “Mystery of the Lehigh Gap,” “Watershed Explorers,” “Flood Adventure,” “The Lehigh Gap Story,” “Watershed Explorers – Industrial History” and “Watershed Explorers – Environmental Issues” – are highlighted by virtual reality (VR) games. They were developed over the course of four years by a large collaborative team of Lehigh University students and professors and can be played on your home computer, with no VR headset required.

One of the professors, Dr. Alec Bodzin of Lehigh’s Learning and Technology program, pointed out that considering flooding events like the recent one in Texas, having “Flood Adventure,” an interactive simulation game to learn about flood preparedness and safety, could save lives.

“We initially thought, ‘Hey, let’s do a simulation game for urban planners about where to build and where not to build based on potential flooding,’” he said.

“The three ‘Watershed Explorers’ versions have Spanish language versions. We came out with a new code that you can go select any language” to interact with the games.

The suite of immersive experiences also includes witnessing the dramatic transformation of the local landscape, exploring the process of zinc ore mining and smelting in the Lehigh Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries, and learning about watershed health and ecological recovery from the harm caused by industrial pollution.

“People don’t understand that we live in a watershed. Also, we have a rich industrial history here in the Lehigh Valley,” Bodzin said.

Bodzin credited the historical accuracy of the “Mystery of the Lehigh Gap” and “The Lehigh Gap Story” experiences to partnerships with the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the National Canal Museum, and the National Museum of Industrial History.

Meanwhile, Lehigh Valley Watershed geographic information systems data, recently retired Lehigh earth and environmental sciences professor David Anastasio, Lehigh Gap Nature Center, Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center, and Nurture Nature Center ensured the scientific accuracy of the games.

Check out eli.lehigh.edu/immersive-learning-experiences. Experiences are playable with either a web browser or a stand-alone download.

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The immersive experiences have been enjoyed by players ranging in age from 10 to 80.

Madix Marlatt, “Mysteries of the Lehigh Gap”’s student project leader, said he was surprised by the response from senior citizens during outreach events to test the games.

“Sometimes they struggled through, and we helped them a little bit. But at the end they said, ‘Oh, that was really fun. I’m glad that I did it,’” he said. “I’d argue that virtual reality games in the headset, where you just have two controllers and you click and look around with your head, they’re actually more accessible for people that don’t play [video] games all the time.”

According to Marlatt, parents of homeschooled children also provided positive feedback.

“I think some kids are struggling to learn at home sometimes and just find things that are exciting and immersive for them,” he said.

During a recent open play session on the Lehigh campus for the desktop version of “Mysteries of the Lehigh Gap,” Ruth Traldi, the university’s Mountaintop Campus programs manager, said she wanted to try it out because of her interest in area history.

“I find it interesting and informative,” she said, adding that she found the interactive history lessons and the five minigames in “Mysteries of the Lehigh Gap” easy to navigate.

‘Mysteries of the Lehigh Gap’ on tour

There are some upcoming opportunities to play the headset versions of “Mysteries of the Lehigh Gap”:

• Sept. 20 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, 8844 Paint Mill Road, Slatington.

• Oct. 20 and Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the National Museum of Industrial History, 602 E. Second St., Bethlehem.

Headsets are being provided thanks to grant funding, Bodzin said.

‘A game changer’

The inspiration for the learning experiences came about in 2018, when Bodzin was working on a grant project collecting data on urban heat islands with assistance from students from Building 21 High School in Allentown.

He said that when the students were out in the field, they were engaged in the research. However, when they returned to the classroom, they were more interested in watching videos of people playing video games than analyzing the data they’d captured.

Taking a cue from that, Bodzin tested a VR learning activity prototype with middle school students that gave them the sensation of virtually flying over their local environment. According to Bodzin, student focus groups reported that the VR headset kept them focused, and they weren’t tempted to stop and check their incoming text messages.

“Kids were coming back and saying, ‘Oh, I’d like to do that again.’ And we never saw such quiet kids doing stuff because they were so in tune with the VR. And they learned; they really enjoyed it. It’s possible this could be a game changer in school environments,” he said.