VR training simulations (VRS) are on the verge of becoming an absolutely mass product. It is becoming a new way to develop skills in many areas. Previously, people could not fully immerse themselves in the event until they were involved in it. With VRS, we can immerse people in a virtual environment so that they can gain practical experience in their profession before they begin to put their knowledge into practice. Especially in healthcare education VR is a new technology that allows researchers and teachers to simulate different learning scenarios in a less costly and elaborate way. Compared to traditional methods, virtual reality makes it easier to change the smallest parameters of nursing and caretaking training. It also allows the lecturer to use more accurate methods of assessment and result analysis that were previously unavailable. It is crucial for them to be able to practice their nursing skills in a reliable and safe way. VR training gives us the opportunity to safely immerse the students into the process as much as possible so that they are as ready as possible to treat real patients.Problem:Although the new technology has definitely arrived for some time in different areas of healthcare and medical training on the high-end level, its practical implementation in nursing and caretaking educational programs or even the curriculum itself in the European countries is very low, especially comparing to some Asian countries and North America, where it has become a part of many training programs in hospitals, colleges and universities. Most of the technological trials are currently at the level of experimentation and prototype development. A more time-efficient integration of VR applications in the teaching and training practice is partly slowed down by the lack of efficient and convenient testing and optimization environments. The mechanisms of cross-discipline collaboration of subject teachers, media didactics specialists, software developers etc. in the process of VRS design and production has also not been fully worked out in most of the nursing and care education institutions.Main goal:Adoption of advanced digital technology, such as immersive virtual reality, in nursing education and training in Europe. This should be achieved through development of a standardized procedure, including technology, testing protocol, organizational structure, operation mechanism and digital tool set for efficient multidisciplinary collaboration throughout the development and implementation of the modern Virtual Reality Simulators into nursing education and training. Based on the experiences and findings of the project a demonstration and learning courseware on VR applications opportunities in Nursing Tertiary Education will be developed. This shall enhance an effective collaboration between the educational institutions and software developers and close the current gap between the needs of nursing education and training and the great potential of the VR technology.Objectives:1. Mapping the contents of nursing curricula suitable for transfer to current state-of-the-art consumer-grade VR applications to identify digitization potentials.2. Development of the customized collaboration procedure for trainers, teachers and media didactics specialists facilitating co-operative elaboration of concepts and scenarios for instructional design and implementation of VRS in nursing education skills training.3. Development of testing and demonstration toolkit for:- experiencing and understanding of the technology;- bringing up basic operational skills to the teaching and training staff of the nursing education institutions;- selection and adoption of functions and settings provided by VR simulation technology corresponding to the specific requirements of training programs suitable to train particular professional skills in nursing and caretaking.4. Development of a mixed technology VR Simulator, based on 3D graphics (CGI) and 360-degree videos for practical application of haptically tangible learning scenarios in nursing and caretaking based on the elaborated procedure.5. Pilot implementation of the VR-supported application into curriculum and/or teaching and learning practice and empirical study on their impact on skills learning success.6. Development of the up-to-date extensive training course on design, development, adjustment and integration of VR training modules into teaching & learning. Results and impact:Through collaborative project activities of researchers, lecturers, trainers and software developers, joint learning and teaching a Pan European expert network to share skills and experiences of VR applications development and integration in education will be built. Use of synergy effects of the 6 partners with diverse backgrounds from 5 EU countries shall facilitate faster and deeper integration of VR technology in European higher education in the healthcare field in general and nursing training,