The Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto (FMUP) is participating in VR4Health, an international consortium developing immersive training for healthcare professionals. The planned virtual reality platform aims to give learners opportunities to practise clinical skills in realistic, risk-free environments.
FMUP describes a project beginning in 2026, with applications in advanced medical education, neuromodulation and virtual clinical training. The available sources establish a development project; they do not confirm an operational rollout at FMUP.
Planned training approach
The consortium proposes a modular platform with adaptive AI. Aequilibrium, which leads the international consortium, describes speech, gesture and decision tracking that would inform live coaching and adjust subsequent scenarios to learner performance.
Proposed multi-user sessions would allow doctors, nurses and students to practise together in shared virtual spaces. These modules are intended to support clinical communication and coordination, alongside individual skills development.
Partners and funding
FMUP reports approximately €190,000 allocated to its participation. Its Portuguese partners are:
- LINOVT – Engenharia de Software, the national project leader.
- Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP).
- Polytechnic Institute of Porto.
ITEA lists a consortium spanning four countries. The sources give different project horizons: FMUP describes work continuing through December 2028, while ITEA lists January 2026 to June 2029. Neither schedule demonstrates that training has begun at FMUP.
Expected benefits
The project aims to make training more accessible and adaptable while reducing clinical errors. Aequilibrium claims potential knowledge-retention increases of up to 80% and physical simulation-lab cost reductions of up to 70%.
These figures are vendor claims about the platform's potential, not measured outcomes or savings from FMUP. The supplied evidence does not establish learner participation, deployment hardware or results at the medical school.
