VR Health Champions: €7.8 Million Project to Revolutionise Healthcare Through XR Innovations

A new €7.8 million initiative, VR Health Champions, has been launched to accelerate the adoption of XR technologies in healthcare across Europe. Co-funded by the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) instrument under the European Regional Development Fund, this three-year project aims to break down market, clinical and regulatory barriers in less developed European regions and fast-track the advancement of VR/AR applications. Eighteen partners from eight EU Member States, embedded in nine regional ecosystems, will join forces to provide targeted support to five flagship SMEs, driving innovation in medical diagnostics, therapies, and surgeries, while also expanding the European healthcare XR ecosystem through knowledge transfer and funding opportunities.

Unlocking Europe’s XR market potential

The European VR/AR market is projected to reach a value between €35-65 billion by 2025, contributing up to €40 billion in gross added value. Europe’s VR/AR ecosystem, driven by start-ups and SMEs, is growing dynamically, particularly in France, Germany, the Nordics, Benelux, Spain, and Italy. Healthcare, the fourth largest sector in the VR/AR market (representing 11%), holds enormous potential for advancements in medical analysis, diagnostics, surgeries, and therapies. 

Although XR technologies in healthcare are still in the early stages across Europe—especially in less developed regions—the opportunities are vast. VR Health Champions aims to capitalise on this by lowering market, clinical and regulatory barriers for VR/AR applications in healthcare, focusing on five flagship SMEs while creating pathways for future innovations in the sector. The total project cost is estimated at €7.88 million, with €5.82 million co-funded by the Interregional Innovation Investments (I3) instrument under the European Regional Development Fund.  

„Our goal is to not only support these flagship companies but to scale XR healthcare innovation across Europe,” said Cristiana Costa, Project Coordinator from Instituto Pedro Nunes in Portugal. By engaging additional SMEs through cascade funding, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and aligning innovations with patient and provider needs, we aim to enable faster market entry and greater impact on patient care. Peter Nagy from EIT Health InnoStars emphasised the crucial role of the partnership in driving these efforts, particularly in bridging the technological gap between the less innovative and more advanced regions of Europe. „While AI and XR ecosystems are expanding, companies in Central Eastern and Southern Europe face challenges like limited awareness among healthcare professionals and a shortage of skilled talents. Through this project, and in collaboration with partners from EIT Health network, we aim to level the playing field by offering targeted support and expertise. 

Flagship SMEs leading the way

Five pioneering SMEs, Ligthspace, MEEVA, MedApp, Metaskills, and Virtuleap, are leading this transformation. 

• Lightspace is a Latvian company developing breakthrough multifocal displays – a unique human-centric 3D visualization hardware and supporting software, to create customised AR-enabled solutions in healthcare.
• MEEVA, from Italy, innovates therapies for teens with neurodevelopmental disorders using their Zentastic VR platform. It combines immersive multiplayer games and ML-based biometric analytics to help therapists track stress levels and improve social skills.
• MedApp, a Polish medtech company, developed CarnaLife Holo, an FDA-approved and CE MDR-certified software as a medical device using XR glasses for preoperative planning and surgical support. As part of VR Health Champions, MedApp will advance its solution to CarnaLife Holo MedNav, enabling real-time tracking of surgical tools within XR. MedApp will cooperate with Lightspace to develop a unique and comfortable solution for surgical navigation and visualisation of hidden anatomical features.
• Metaskills, a Polish start-up, is a system focused on developing soft skills for managers using VR & GenAI. As part of the VR Champions project, it provides training for healthcare professionals, including management skills for leaders and feedback skills for better patient communication. The platform offers real-time interactions with 3D avatars, simulating authentic conversations and providing instant feedback, much like a session with a professional coach.
• Virtuleap, from Portugal, develops virtual reality solutions for cognitive assessment, training and monitoring. Their new product, Cogniclear VR, offers cognitive assessment in VR, based on neuropsychological validated tests, and the VR Health Champions project will accelerate its testing and validation.

A Pan-European Effort to Accelerate XR Adoption

Supported by a diverse network of healthcare units, research centres, universities, and industry leaders from Italy, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium and Germany, the project seeks to unlock the full potential of XR in healthcare. Key contributors include Klaster Life Science Krakow, Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz University of Technology, University of Latvia, and hospitals such as Centro Hospitalar e Universitario de Coimbra. Industry leaders like Medtronic Portugal and Medtronic Ibérica SA, Syreon Research Institute, and RTE Lab, alongside the European initiative XR4Europe, are also supporting the project. It is coordinated by Instituto Pedro Nunes and co-coordinated by EIT Health InnoStars.

More information about the VR Health Champions project can be found at vrhealthchampions.eu.