Multiplayer VR lab-training classroom

A networked virtual classroom where an instructor and a group of students each run their own laboratory procedure at the same time, and everyone can see what everyone else is doing.

Client: Major US non-profit, via subcontractor
My role: Designed and built the multiplayer system
Stack: Unity · C# · Photon
Platform: VR headsets with hand tracking

Multiplayer VR lab classroom with student desks, lab machines and avatars — In-headset view of the classroom: every desk runs a student's procedure live, and everyone in the room sees it.

The problem

Laboratory training normally happens in a physical room: an instructor watches students work through procedures on real equipment. The goal was to bring that format into VR for remote learners, keeping the part that matters most for teaching, which is that the instructor can see each student's work as it happens.

What I built

Host / client session model. The instructor hosts the session and students join the same virtual room.
One live procedure per student. Each student runs their own laboratory procedure, with its own machines and equipment, all simulated in real time at the same moment.
Shared visibility. Every participant sees every other participant's procedure and machine state as it changes, so the instructor can follow the whole class from inside the room.
Networked hand tracking. Hand-tracking data is synced too, so students and instructor see each other's real hand movements on the equipment.

How it works

Each participant's procedure and machine state, plus their hand poses, are shared through the Photon room. Every client rebuilds the other participants' stations locally, so the whole class is visible in one space.

Session layout: the instructor hosts, every student's procedure and hands are synced to all participants.

Client work under confidentiality. The client and product name are left out on purpose. The screenshot is from in-headset footage; the diagram shows how the system works.