Augmented/virtual realities (ARs/VRs) promise to revolutionize STEM education. However, most easy-to-use tools are limited to static visualizations, which limits the approachable content, whereas more interactive and dynamic alternatives require costly hardware, preventing large-scale use and evaluation of pedagogical effects. Here, we introduce , a free, open-source web site with interactive AR webpage-based apps that work out-of-the-box in laptops, tablets, and smartphones, where students and teachers can naturally handle virtual objects to explore molecular structure, reactivity, dynamics, and interactions, covering topics from inorganic, organic, and biological chemistry. With these web apps, teachers and science communicators can develop interactive material for their lessons and hands-on activities for their students and target public, in person or online, as we exemplify. Thousands of accesses to moleculARweb attest to the ease of use; teacher feedback attests to the utility in online teaching and homework during a pandemic; and in-class plus online surveys show that users find AR engaging and useful for teaching and learning chemistry. These observations support the potential of AR in future education and show the large impact that modern web technologies have in democratizing access to digital learning tools, providing the possibility to mass-test the pedagogical effect of these technologies in STEM education.

<p>Here we introduce <i>MoleculARweb</i>, a purely web-based AR platform for chemistry, molecular and structural biology education that runs out of the box in regular web browsers in ordinary computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. Through regular-printed markers recognized via the device’s webcam, students and teachers can handle molecules in an AR environment to interactively explore their structure, dynamics and interactions. The release version of <i>MoleculARweb</i> features over 20 activities covering topics about molecular shapes, atomic and molecular orbitals, acid-base equilibria and hydrogen bonding, protein and nucleic acid structures, X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy, and molecular mechanics; applicable from high school to early university levels. <i>MoleculARweb</i> is freely available without registration at <a href="https://molecularweb.epfl.ch">https://MoleculARweb.epfl.ch</a> in 6 languages. </p>