Research Institute Joins EU Virtual Reality Project to Revolutionize Healthcare

A Hungarian research institute is taking part in a €7.8 million program called “VR Health Champions” to accelerate the uptake of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies in healthcare across Europe, EIT Health InnoStars, one of the program coordinators, announced in a press release.

The three-year project aims to break down market, clinical, and regulatory barriers and accelerate the development of VR and AR, collectively known as XR (extended reality) applications in less developed regions. It will be co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund’s Interregional Innovation Investment(I3) instrument.

The program brings together 18 partners from eight EU Member States, including the Hungarian Syreon Research Institute, in nine regional ecosystems to provide targeted support to five selected SMEs.

The aim is to foster advances in medical diagnostics, therapies, and surgery, and to develop the European healthcare XR technology ecosystem through knowledge transfer and funding opportunities.

The European XR market is projected to grow to €35-65 billion by 2025, contributing up to €40 billion in gross value added to the continent’s economy. Start-ups and SMEs are the engine of the European VR/AR ecosystem, the program coordinator writes.

Healthcare is the fourth largest sector of the VR/AR market with 11% share, offering huge opportunities in medical analysis, diagnostics, surgical technologies, and therapies.

Five pioneering SMEs are participating:

• Ligthspace of Latvia, that is developing multifocal displays.
• MEEVA of Italy, that is developing innovative therapies for teenagers with neurodevelopmental disorders.
• MedApp, a Polish medical technology company.
• Metaskills of Poland.
• Virtuleap of Portugal, that is developing virtual reality-based solutions for cognitive assessment.

The project is supported by a diverse network of healthcare organizations, research centers, universities, and industry leaders from Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, and Germany.

The partners include industry leaders such as Medtronic Portugal and Medtronic Ibérica SA, the Hungarian Syreon Research Institute, RTE Lab, and the European association XR4Europe, which supports the project.

Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay