Valparaiso University and AlensiaXR held a demonstration of AlensiaXR’s cutting-edge HoloAnatomy® .NEXT™ technology on Tuesday, Nov. 11, showing visitors how extended reality could shape the next generation of medical professionals. Through extended reality (a term encompassing virtual, augmented, and mixed reality), the University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions (CoNHP) is embracing the cutting-edge of health care education.
“This technology gives future healthcare professionals at Valparaiso University a powerful, new learning tool to learn about the human body,” said Elizabeth Gmitter, Ph.D., PT, M.S, dean of CoNHP at Valparaiso University. “We’re proud to lead the region in adopting this style of learning, and dedicated to providing our students with the best experience possible.”
With .NEXT™, students have the ability to explore the human body in ways that previously would have required extensive and resource-heavy dissection, or would not have been possible at all. Virtual bodies, systems and organs can be separated, enlarged, observed and manipulated in group environments.
“I walked through the heart, walked through a muscular system, and we dissected a digestive system,” said Ashley Webb, an exercise science instructor at Rensselaer Central High School after her time with the demo. “Just making this more real, where students can walk through the structures of the body and see the insides would make a huge impression on them.”
AlensiaXR pioneers immersive technology to transform learning in health sciences, giving instructors the tools to build richer lessons and engage students in real-time 3D exploration. According to peer-reviewed research , this mixed-reality approach can result in up to 40% greater retention, and higher overall learning engagement when compared to dissection-only cohorts.
“Valparaiso University is leading the way in using extended reality to enhance anatomy education,” said Mark Day, CEO of AlensiaXR. “HoloAnatomy helps students see and understand the human body with greater clarity, strengthening both comprehension and long-term retention.”
HoloAnatomy is currently in use within Valparaiso’s Physician Assistant program, while virtual reality is being used by the CoNHP nursing and physician assistant programs, putting students in simulated clinical situations that prepare them for real-world challenges, including patients with rare heart conditions, poisonings, and sudden patient seizures. Read more about that program here.
Bringing cutting-edge technology to the classroom is just one of the ways that Valparaiso University is living its dedication to learning and thriving, two of the main pillars of the five-year plan Uplift Valpo: Our Beacon for the Journey Forward. To learn more about AlensiaXR and HoloAnatomy®, click here. For more information on the College of Nursing and Health Professions, visit their website here.
