Robert Paul, chief executive officer with EOA Scientific, said a recent loan of about $147,000 from the federal Crown corporation is allowing his 10-person business to develop 3-D multimedia educational laboratories that will be accessible by the Internet.

"It’s like a video game, but instead of shooting aliens, our 3-D laboratory will allow kids to do experiments," he said. "They can travel to a planet and shoot a cannon and calculate its trajectory based on the gravity, they can run mazes or they can use levers to build various structures."

Several sites have two-dimensional labs already on the web, but Mr. Paul said there is very little like the complex prototype EOA is now commercializing. The first 3-D lab explores force, motion and gravity. Subsequent efforts will include biology and chemistry experiments.

The company has been in business since 1992 and offers a range of CD, DVD and Internet products that are in use by elementary schools and first-year university classes across North America.

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