In the months of COVID-19 isolation, the gulf between college science labs and professional labs has narrowed; they both are converging in online practice. Academic virtual science labs have improved year by year as more and more learners seek to advance their education and careers through online learning. At the same time, professional laboratories have increasingly utilized robotics, distant sensors and associated technologies to make the labs more versatile, efficient, accurate and operable at a distance. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) is overhauling laboratories to provide remote (distant) control and monitoring.
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/blogs/online-trending-now/virtual-laboratories-convergence-learning-and-career