Chemists can manipulate molecules, watch proteins interact and share their work with colleagues in the virtual reality platform.

Chemists may be one of the first researchers to see the benefits of working in virtual reality instead of actual reality. The VR software company Nanome has a 21st century replacement for the ball and stick models that date from 1,865 as well as software models that create 2D images of molecules on computer screens.

The VR platform has won over highly educated researchers who are skeptical of everything who at the same time have been waiting for decades for this technology to mature, according to Steve McCloskey, founder and CEO of Nanome.