The world of education has been revolutionized with the help of emerging technologies such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Virtuleap, a health tech and educational technology startup, has developed a library of virtual reality games to assess and train a variety of cognitive skills, including memory, and has recently raised $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in a funding round led by GED Ventures Portugal.
This investment provides a great opportunity for teachers to unlock the potential mental impact made possible by the most recent research in neuroscience and behavioural science. Virtuleap’s multidisciplinary team includes developers and designers who collaborate with auditory scientists, cognitive scientists, and neuroscientists to develop high-quality brain training applications in the form of enjoyable gaming experiences.
The platform prioritizes scientific design in its games and technology, which are divided into seven cognitive categories: memory, attention, information processing, spatial orientation, cognitive flexibility and problem-solving, motor control, and spatial orientation. Neuroscientists created these short, intense, and enjoyable games as translations of neuropsychological assessment tools, and AI learning tools analyze the collected data.
Virtuleap is also working on a second product called Cogniclear VR, which is a virtual reality-based cognitive screening tool jointly designed with partners such as Lusíadas Saúde and Roche Portugal. It is intended to be released in 2024 and aims to detect a potential cognitive disorder, such as Alzheimer’s disease, to allow early intervention and promote better health outcomes.
GED Ventures emphasizes that this investment reflects its strategy to invest in technology directly impacting people’s mental health, providing a better quality of life. They believe that the design of #Tech4Purpose seeks to support technologies capable of transforming the world, promoting sustainability, and leaving a viable and promising legacy for future generations.
For teachers, this investment in Virtuleap provides an opportunity to accelerate the R&D and commercialization of its cognitive VR solutions. These technologies will help teachers, in schools, businesses and homes, combat the ‘cognitive crisis’ and promote better educational outcomes for students.
