IT:U Selected for Healthcare Education Grant

IT:U has been awarded the Bodyswaps & Meta Healthcare Education grant, launching a cross collaboration with Bodyswaps, a leading provider of AI-powered immersive simulations, and medical institutions focused on training communication skills between medical staff and patients. The initiative is co-led by Prof. Nina Hubig, Nelson Silva, Janie Gonsalez. Together, they are bringing AI and extended reality (XR) technology from lab environments to real-world healthcare settings —reshaping how education, communication, empathy, and care are taught.

Why VR-Based Social Skills Matter in Healthcare?

Healthcare hinges on human interaction. Yet training in soft skills like empathy, de-escalation, and active listening, remains difficult to learn, train and assess. These are skills that traditionally require high-stakes roleplay or real-world exposure, both of which are time-consuming and difficult to scale.

By using immersive VR simulations, Bodyswaps — IT:U’s technology partner in this initiative — enables learners to practice real-world scenarios in a safe, repeatable environment. Learners can step into others’ shoes to build empathy, receive feedback, adjust their responses, and gain confidence in real-life contexts.

How the Grant Works

The Bodyswaps & Meta Healthcare Education grant provides IT:U with the tools to integrate immersive learning directly into academic and clinical workflows. This grant empowers IT:U to deliver scalable, experiential soft skills training in both educational and healthcare environments. Grant resources include:

Two Meta Quest 3S VR headsets (one grant to Prof. Nina Hubig, and one grant for Dr. Nelson Silva)
Unlimited user licenses for all persons involved (e.g., students, staff)
All subject-matter expert-authored modules from Bodyswaps
Customisable AI roleplays and scenario-based simulations
A Learning Pathway Builder for curriculum alignment

Providing Communication Training for Medical Institutions

The first test implementation is taking place in collaboration with healthcare professionals working. With support from IT:U and Bodyswaps, professionals are using immersive VR modules to strengthen communication in sensitive care environments. IT:U supports onboarding and user testing, while Bodyswaps provides technical guidance and platform-level support. This tri-party collaboration ensures the experience is both pedagogically sound and practically relevant, aligning with IT:U’s mission to bridge research, education, and real-world practice.

“This grant serves a triple purpose: enhancing IT:U’s curriculum, enabling close collaboration with the medical institutions in real-world settings, and supporting the technology company Bodyswaps in developing improved communication scenarios and learning modules.”
Nelson Silva, Senior Lecturer and Lab Expert, IT:U

Bringing XR Technology to Life at IT:U

This initiative reflects IT:U’s commitment to bringing latest technology into real-world application. It is driven by the university’s Learning Innovations Division (led by Christina Nyström), the Project-Based Learning team (led by Carla Barreiros), and the RITA Extended Reality Lab (led by Nelson Silva). IT:U creates spaces for interdisciplinary collaboration and project-based learning, where partners like Bodyswaps contribute directly into teaching, curriculum development activities and research.

The platform can now be used for:

Soft skills training for both staff and students
Workshops and research projects inside IT:U labs
The Master of Interdisciplinary Computing program curriculum

Here, students use different Bodyswaps modules as part of their academic journey—contributing to real-world deployments and co-developing next-generation learning experiences with tech and healthcare partners.