"We combine the world of virtual reality and healthcare"
The final conference of the international project VReduMED, taking place on 4 February 2026 in České Budějovice at the Faculty of Education, University of South Bohemia. The event feature expert presentations as well as practical hands-on workshops.
What You Gain:
The conference is intended for teachers, healthcare professionals, developers, students, and policymakers.
THE PRESENTATIONS ARE AVAILABLE HERE:
On 4 February 2026, VReduMED partners, healthcare educators, students, and stakeholders gathered at the University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Education (Dukelská 9, České Budějovice) for the project’s hybrid Final Conference, themed “From Vision to Reality.” The event brought the consortium’s results to life through keynote-style presentations, open discussion, and hands-on workshops where participants could experience the project’s VR solutions first-hand.
The Final Conference was organised as a hybrid event, allowing participants to follow the full programme live online in addition to attending in person. For those who could not join on the day—or who would like to revisit specific sessions—a recorded replay will be available later through the VReduMED project’s online channels and website.
Welcome & project overview: what VReduMED delivered
The conference opened with welcome speeches from the hosts and a project overview led by Matouš Radimec (JVTP), representing the Lead Partner. The audience received a structured walk-through of VReduMED’s key achievements and the pathway from initial needs to validated educational tools.
The overview highlighted VReduMED’s knowledge-gathering activities, built on:
A central element of the project’s community-building was the Care Education Forum—a knowledge exchange platform designed to connect experts, gather structured feedback, and support long-term collaboration around VR-based healthcare education.
The session also introduced the two flagship VR applications that were later available for hands-on testing in the workshop rooms:
In addition, the project results were framed through the lens of pilot testing, including:
The message looking forward was clear: the Final Conference was not an endpoint, but a starting point for continued effort to promote VR in healthcare education and strengthen uptake across the partner regions.
MedTech RoadMap: mapping actors and building direction
The next presentation, delivered by Business Upper Austria (Biz-Up), focused on the MedTech RoadMap. The talk addressed how surveying and mapping the ecosystem—identifying key actors and connections—can support strategic development, cooperation, and innovation in medical technologies.
The presentation also linked back to the project’s roundtable events, where open innovation and design thinking sessions helped structure dialogue and co-create ideas with stakeholders in a practical, solution-oriented format.
Saving lives in VR: Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training
The conference then turned to one of the most impactful application areas: life-saving skills training. In “Saving Lives in VR – Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Training,” JVTP presented the VR CPR concept, supported by a short video summary.
A key takeaway from the discussion was the human factor of training and evaluation: testing CPR scenarios with a child is challenging, as people often feel anxious or hesitant to attempt it. As a result, many participants are more willing to begin practice with adult scenarios—an insight that matters for both training design and adoption strategies.
Room of Horror: a VR challenge in patient safety
Next, Széchenyi István University of Győr presented “Room of Horror – A VR challenge in patient safety,” introducing the Room of Horror application with a short video. The session showcased how immersive scenarios can sharpen observation, decision-making, and safety awareness—competences that are critical in real clinical environments where small oversights can have serious consequences.
Guided workshops: testing VReduMED’s VR applications
After a coffee break and discussion, the conference shifted from presentations to hands-on experience. During the Guided Workshops, participants could test multiple applications and learning scenarios, including:
This interactive block was a defining part of the day: it enabled direct user feedback, peer exchange between educators and developers, and practical reflection on how VR can be integrated into teaching workflows.
Care Education Forum & Handbook: supporting implementation, not just inspiration
Following the lunch break—with ongoing discussion and VR demonstrations—the afternoon programme returned to broader educational infrastructure. The Education Group presented the Care Education Forum and the Handbook, offering a comprehensive view of innovative approaches in healthcare education alongside a practical guide for implementing VR technologies.
Together, these outputs help move VR adoption from isolated pilots to more consistent, curriculum-aligned practice—supporting educators with both a community platform and an actionable reference framework.
Inspiration from Mapping: what already exists, and what works
The University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice shared results from mapping existing VR applications and good practice examples. The mapping started with desk research, drawing insights from public sources such as newspapers and social media channels, helping partners understand what solutions are already available, how they are communicated, and what patterns of success can be transferred into nursing and care education.
Voices from the field: insights from educators, students, and stakeholders
Next, “Voices from the field” brought in lived experience from nursing education. The Education Group presented insights from nursing educators, students, and stakeholders, including challenges that commonly appear in training contexts. One example discussed was the difficulty some learners have with mastering muscle-related anatomy—and how VR-based learning created new experiences that improved engagement and increased motivation.
Immersive learning: the VR educational concept
In “Immersive Learning – the VR educational concept,” OTH Regensburg presented an overarching educational approach to immersive learning—connecting technology, pedagogy, and real-world training requirements. The emphasis was not only on “using VR,” but on designing learning journeys that are didactically sound and feasible in everyday educational settings.
Recommendations and outlook: from project results to next steps
The Final Conference concluded with a partner roundtable discussion focused on recommendations for VR implementation in nursing education across the partner countries. Partners reflected on what they learned during development and piloting, and shared future prospects for scaling and integration.
Looking ahead to 2026/2027, one forward-looking direction discussed was the integration of student teaching with the developed VR applications, moving toward deeper curriculum embedding and wider use through collaboration and practice-based learning environments.
A telling indicator of the event’s broader relevance came from the audience itself: one participant travelled from Austria after discovering the conference through Care Education Forum registration, underlining the growing interest in cross-border exchange and practical VR solutions.
Conference closing | collaboration, labs & networking
The day ended with a closing and outlook centred on collaboration, labs, and networking—reinforcing the project’s long-term ambition: to keep building capacity, partnerships, and confidence in VR-enhanced healthcare education beyond the lifetime of VReduMED.
