Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) affect millions worldwide, one-sixth of illness worldwide, and primarily affecting countries throughout Asia, south America and Africa. However due to natural habitat loss and climate change, these diseases are predicted to spread, especially vector borne diseases. Predictions suggest that Malaria could reach northern Europe by 2050. These diseases have catastrophic implications, causing death and disability to millions worldwide. Subsequently, there is still need for funding for drug deployment programmes as well as for vaccine R&D. This need is only going to grow, making it necessary for the general public, private and public investors, governments and charities to be aware of parasites and tropical diseases. Since there is a growing need to better understand these topics, introducing interactive means of conveying information could facilitate learning and public engagement.

STEM related topics have been shown to benefit from using interactive applications to encourage knowledge acquisition and public engagement. Visualizing and interacting with information in a natural manner has been shown to improve learning outcomes and boost confidence when engaging with complex subject matter, like molecular biology, immunology, or parasitology among others. Virtual reality (VR) allows for the user to be transposed in a different environment, even those which are unvisitable. This affordance makes virtual reality (VR) particularly suitable for showcasing the otherwise invisible world of parasites. VR is particularly suitable for public engagement events, as it allows for an otherworldly experience within a short timeframe and with reasonably few other necessary props. 
This research designed and developed an interactive VR application tool for public engagement in collaboration with the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Parasitology. The application was tested with 8 users, assessing its usability and the generated sense of perceived presence. The application scored well both in presence and usability, with room for further improvements. Limitations of user testing included low diversity and limited participant numbers. Despite this, the application shows good promise as a valuable tool for public engagement. Additional user testing would be necessary to gain further insights into potential improvements, involving a wide cohort of participants and collecting additional qualitative and quantitative data to statistically analyse the validity of the application as an engagement tool.