{"id":10245,"date":"2025-06-10T09:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T07:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/it-u.at\/?p=10245"},"modified":"2025-07-03T15:05:49","modified_gmt":"2025-07-03T13:05:49","slug":"itu-selected-for-healthcare-education-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/it-u.at\/en\/news\/itu-selected-for-healthcare-education-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"IT:U Selected for Healthcare Education Grant"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>IT:U has been awarded the Bodyswaps &amp; 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. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nina-hubig\/\">Nina Hubig<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/nelsonjesussilveriosilva\/\">Nelson Silva<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/janie-gonsalez-700359149\/\">Janie Gonsalez<\/a>. Together, they are bringing AI and extended reality (XR) technology from lab environments to real-world healthcare settings \u2014reshaping how education, communication, empathy, and care are taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why VR-Based Soft Skills Matter in Healthcare?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By using immersive VR simulations, Bodyswaps \u2014 IT:U\u2019s technology partner in this initiative \u2014 enables learners to practice real-world scenarios in a safe, repeatable environment. Learners can step into others\u2019 shoes to build empathy, receive feedback, adjust their responses, and gain confidence in real-life contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How the Grant Works<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bodyswaps &amp; 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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Two Meta Quest 3S VR headsets (one grant to Prof. Nina Hubig, and one grant for Dr. Nelson Silva)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Unlimited user licenses for all persons involved (e.g., students, staff)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>All subject-matter expert-authored modules from Bodyswaps<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Customisable AI roleplays and scenario-based simulations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A Learning Pathway Builder for curriculum alignment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Providing Communication Training for Medical Institutions<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>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\u2019s mission to bridge research, education, and real-world practice.<em><br><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"has-copy-medium-font-size\"><em>\u201cThis grant serves a triple purpose: enhancing IT:U\u2019s 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.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Nelson Silva, Senior Lecturer and Lab Expert, IT:U<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bringing XR Technology to Life at IT:U<\/strong><br><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This initiative reflects IT:U\u2019s commitment to bringing latest technology into real-world application. It is driven by the university\u2019s Learning Innovations Division (led by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/christina-nystr%C3%B6m\/\">Christina Nystr\u00f6m<\/a>), the Project-Based Learning team (led by<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/carla-barreiros\/\"> Carla Barreiros<\/a>), 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The platform can now be used for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Soft skills training for both staff and students<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Workshops and research projects inside IT:U labs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <a href=\"https:\/\/it-u.at\/en\/study-program\/master-programs\/\">Master of Interdisciplinary Computing<\/a> program curriculum<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, students use different Bodyswaps modules as part of their academic journey\u2014contributing to real-world deployments and co-developing next-generation learning experiences with tech and healthcare partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IT:U has been awarded the Bodyswaps &amp; 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 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":10715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IT:U Selected for Healthcare Education Grant | IT:U<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/it-u.at\/en\/news\/itu-selected-for-healthcare-education-grant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IT:U Selected for Healthcare Education Grant | IT:U\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IT:U has been awarded the Bodyswaps &amp; 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. 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