###### Abstract  
Advances in information and communication technologies have created a range of new products and services for the well-being of society. Virtual Reality (VR) technology has shown enormous potential in educational, commercial, and medical fields. The recent COVID-19 outbreak highlights a poor global performance in communicating epidemic knowledge to the public. Considering the potential of VR, the research starts from analyzing how to use VR technology to improve public education in COVID-19. The research uses Virtual Storytelling Technology (VST) to promote enthusiasm in user participation. A Plot-based VR education system is proposed in order to provide an immersive, explorative, educational experiences. The system includes three primary modules: the Tutorial Module, the Preparation Module, and the Investigation Module. To remove any potential confusion in the user, the research aims to avoid extremely complicated medical professional content and uses interactive, entertainment methods to improve user participation. In order to evaluate the performance efficiency of the system, we conducted performance evaluations and a user study with 80 participants. Compared with traditional education, the experimental results show that the VR education system can used as an effective educational tool for epidemic (COVID-19) fundamental knowledge. The VR technology can assist government agencies and public organizations to increase public understanding of the spread the epidemic (COVID-19). virtual reality; COVID-19; education; interactive design; storyline; user interface; Virtual Storytelling Technology (VST) +
Footnote †: journal: Applied Sciences  
Article  
Virtual Reality Research: Design Virtual Reality Research: Design Virtual Education System for Epidemic (COVID-19) Knowledge to Public  
[PERSON]  
1 Center of Experimental Teaching, Guangdong University of Finance, Guangzhou 510521, China; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
2 Department of Art Design & Creative Industry, Nanfang College, Guangzhou 510970, China; 1 [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Z.L. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (Q.Z.) 3 Institute of Artificial Intelligence, De Montfort University, Leicester LE1 9 BH, UK; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
4 Canway Technology Consult Co., Ltd., Guangzhou S10630, China; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
3. **Interactive:** The system will provide the functionalities for users to act on the behavior in VE such as movement and manipulating [2; 3]. Due to the characteristics, VR technology opens a new horizon in the traditional game industry. It shows enormous potential in the educational, commercial, and medical fields [2]. VR can use its immersive characteristics to improve communication efficiency [3]. Moreover, VR technologies lead users to interact with the virtual environment (VE) to become active participants [4; 5]. The interactive environment can train users' reflection ability. VR and its derivative technologies have the following application advantages in the application process in the educational field. At first, users can use VR equipment to self-learn these teaching resources anytime and anywhere [3; 6]. Educators do not need to spend a long time explaining detailed knowledge by traditional education mode [7; 8]. Secondly, VR technology can enable users to obtain a more realistic learning experience. In some courses, the teaching content displays in a 3D layout. Users wear VR devices to view this content from different perspectives in a virtualized environment [1; 9]. The learning becomes immersive. Thirdly, VR and its derivative technologies can stimulate students' interest in learning. Using Augment Reality (AR) and VR technology, users' senses such as vision, touch, and hearing can be integrated to get a real situational experience and feel the immersive experience. The educational content becomes perceptible, interactive and even touchable. It effectively getting rid of the boring learning atmosphere in the past [8; 9].