Moving from a promising technology to something clinicians and patients can use with confidence requires much more than technical performance. In 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗜𝗡 of the Healthcare Innovation Cycle, #VRHealthChampions brings innovators together with clinicians, researchers and healthcare organisations to close that gap. Our latest article looks at what happens when XR innovation meets clinical reality, and how MEEVA Srl Benefit Corp, MedApp S.A., Metaskills and dotLumen are preparing their solutions for real healthcare environments. Read the full story to see how innovation earns trust. 👇 🔗https://vrhealthchampions.eu/the-clinical-domain-within-the-healthcare-innovation-cycle/

Technology alone isn’t enough. What makes the difference is collaboration with clinicians, real-world testing environments, and a strong innovation ecosystem. Within the #VRHealthChampions project, the Metaskills immersive training platform is being developed together with healthcare professionals and partners across Europe. The initiative shows how cross-sector collaboration – connecting research, industry, and healthcare providers – can accelerate the development of impactful XR solutions for healthcare. 🔎 Discover how the VR Health Champions ecosystem is helping shape the Metaskills solution: https://vrhealthchampions.eu/building-metaskills-within-the-vr-health-champions-ecosystem/ If you are working in digital health, XR technologies, medical training, or healthcare innovation, this is a great example of how European collaboration can turn emerging technologies into real clinical value. #VRHealthChampions #XRHealth #DigitalHealth #HealthcareInnovation #ImmersiveTech #LifeScience #EuropeanInnovation

The second edition of the VR Health Champions Open Call has concluded with the selection of 14 innovative SMEs from across Europe. Out of 74 applications representing 13 countries, one company per challenge was selected to collaborate with leading XR innovators in healthcare. The selected SMEs will work together with the VR Health Champions flagship SMEs – dotLumen, MedApp S.A., MEEVA Srl Società Benefit, Metaskills, and Virtuleap – to address key challenges across the XR healthcare value chain, including technical development, clinical validation, cybersecurity, regulatory readiness, and market deployment. Selected SMEs: ADEOLAB 🔹 Agnieszka Cyniak 🔹 CANARY TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS 🔹 Chino.io 🔹 DOTSOFT SA 🔹 Dual Up Consulting Group 🔹 Hg blu 🔹 Human Opsis 🔹 LOCUTUS INTEGRATOR 🔹 Medical Simulation Technologies 🔹 MetaMedicsVR 🔹 Picaresque 🔹 ReForms21 🔹 Visionage srl Innovativa The VR Health Champions initiative aims to accelerate the adoption of VR/AR solutions in healthcare across Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, fostering collaboration between technology developers, healthcare stakeholders, and research institutions. 👉 Read more: https://vrhealthchampions.eu/vr-health-champions-open-call-2026-14-smes-selected-to-accelerate-xr-innovation-in-european-healthcare/

🔍 What can one year in #VRHealth Championschange? For MEEVA Srl Società Benefit, it meant moving from an early-stage VR concept to a clearly defined product with clinical readiness and real-world deployment in sight. 🛠️ Over the past year, the team behind Vyrithal focused on the key steps required to move a VR healthcare solution closer to practical use — from design freeze and regulatory alignment to carefully balancing clinical ambition with technical realities. As Marco Mosetti from MEEVA explains, this journey was about building clarity and confidence around the product, while laying solid foundations for safety, credibility, and long-term sustainability. With a strong focus on regulatory readiness, market preparation, and close collaboration with partners, the first year of VR Health Champions helped MEEVA translate strategic ideas into concrete product-level progress. Looking ahead, the next phase will focus on market entry, business development, and advancing towards CE marking — turning a strong product into a sustainable business. Read the full story 👉 https://vrhealthchampions.eu/from-concept-to-clinical-ready-how-meeva-shaped-vyrithal-with-vr-health-champions/ #VRHealthChampions #DigitalHealth #VRinHealthcare #MedTech #HealthcareInnovation #SMEs #ClinicalReady

🚀 How does a VR solution move closer to real clinical use? We’ve just published a new article featuring Virtuleap, exploring how their flagship solution, Cogniclear VR, has evolved after one year in the VR Health Champions programme — from product development and usability testing to clinical and regulatory readiness. 👉 This article is part of a broader VR Health Champions campaign showcasing the progress of all five Flagships SMEs and highlighting how each of them has evolved over the course of the project. Read the full story and follow the campaign to discover how Europe’s healthcare VR innovators are turning ambition into real-world impact. 👉 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-prototype-clinical-pathway-how-virtuleap-advanced-ii3xf/?trackingId=pewoAdcHTwibN53fPGJA5w%3D%3D

🧠 How are VR-based tools evaluated and adopted in healthcare? Virtuleap is developing Cogniclear VR — a virtual reality–based cognitive assessment tool designed for use in healthcare settings. To support its further development, we are inviting healthcare decision-makers to share their perspective through a short questionnaire. 👉https://lnkd.in/dp8gNUsm We are particularly interested in insights on: ▶️ perceived usefulness of VR-based cognitive assessment, ▶️ potential adoption barriers, ▶️pricing and decision-making criteria within healthcare organisations. 🕒 The questionnaire takes 5–10 minutes 🔒 All responses are strictly confidential This activity is part of the European project VR Health Champions Thank you for contributing your expertise and helping shape the future of cognitive assessment. 🎥 Before completing the questionnaire, you can learn more about Cogniclear VR in this short video: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dzjdJwAD #DigitalHealth #VirtualReality #HealthcareInnovation #CognitiveAssessment #VRHealthChampions #HealthTech #DecisionMakers #i3

VR Health Champions Open Call 2026 attracted 74 applications from across Europe, competing for 14 specialised challenges within XR healthcare sector. Following the final deadline extension to 7 December 2025, the programme now enters its evaluation and selection phase. Through this call, VR Health Champions invited eligible SMEs to propose solutions for 14 industry-driven XR challenges, spanning areas such as VR-based cognitive assessment, hospital onboarding, spatial computing for assistive wearables, cybersecurity, and SaMD validation. Some of the highest-interest topics included: Market Entry & Product Launch Strategies in EU health markets GDPR, Cybersecurity and Software Validation for Medical XR Indoor/Outdoor VIO & SLAM for Assistive Wearables Onboarding Healthcare Professionals for VR Adoption AI-driven Monocular Depth Estimation and Sensor Fusion The highest number of applications came from Poland, followed by Romania, and a strong cluster of submissions from Greece, Italy and Portugal, with Spain also showing notable interest. “The most striking observation was how many submissions arrived in the very last hours of the call. Despite strict eligibility rules and a challenging match between SMEs and highly specialised challenges, the interest did not slow down — quite the opposite. We received an exceptional number of questions throughout the process, which shows how seriously applicants treated this opportunity. We are delighted that, despite its complexity, the Open Call exceeded our expectations. The real strength proved to be our consortium partners and the amplification through digital channels.” — Viola Keresztes, Project Manager, EIT Health InnoStars Each of the 14 challenges will result in one winner, who will develop a targeted output directly with one of the Flagship SMEs: dotLumen, MedApp, MEEVA, Metaskills or Virtuleap. Next Milestones for Applicants “Now begins the most demanding part of the programme: reviewing all submissions in detail and identifying those with the strongest potential. With such a high number of applications, selecting only one winner per challenge will be a serious task. Still, we believe that through rigorous evaluation and close collaboration with our Flagship SMEs, we will choose the teams capable of truly disrupting XR in healthcare and delivering impact where it matters most.” — Cristiana Costa, Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), Project Coordinator The remote evaluation process will begin on 10 January 2026, with applicants expected to receive the results no later than 12 January. From 12 to 24 January, shortlisted SMEs will be invited to hearings and the final selection stage, followed by the official notification of outcomes on 26 January. Applicants will have 15 calendar days to submit any appeals. The overall activity is scheduled to conclude on 31 January 2026, with kick-off meetings for the selected SMEs taking place between 16 and 28 February. Successful SMEs can receive up to €60,000 in equity-free fundingg to implement a high-impact solution with one of the Flagship companies. Thank You to All Applicants We extend our sincere thanks to all 74 SMEs that submitted proposals. Your effort, expertise and ambition continue to shape the future of healthcare in Europe. Stay tuned — the 14 winners will be announced soon! 👉 https://vrhealthchampions.eu/vr-health-champions-open-call-2026-we-received-74-applications/