Revolve Labs – using VR immersive training to reinvent healthcare education

REVOLVE LABS

Revolve Labs is a creative media company using immersive technology to transform training through virtual reality (VR) for the healthcare and MedTech sectors.

Revolve Labs combines expertise in education, medicine and design to improve patient outcomes through accessible and engaging virtual reality medical education. Its immersive 360 training modules with VR technology are designed for primary care settings, improving effectiveness and operational efficiencies for organisations like the NHS Local Integrated Care Board (ICB). The training modules involve various interactive elements, such as hotspots, decision-making scenarios and quizzes to equip healthcare workers with critical skills. Healthcare staff are placed in simulated, true-to-life patient journeys, which helps build diagnostic and decision-making skills that improve clinical outcomes.

The team at Revolve Labs currently focuses on two markets – Primary Care providers such as NHS Suffolk and North East Essex and MedTech companies. The company also partners with the University of East Anglia to deliver engaging training courses for learners.

Working with Freeport East

In 2024, Revolve Labs received a £30,000 grant from the Freeport East Innovation & Skills Fund. The support assisted the company to expand its training library and increase production capacity for Primary Care modules. Since receiving the funding, the Revolve Labs team has successfully created two interactive VR modules. “Dementia Patient pathway” a module designed to let healthcare professionals experience the diagnostic pathway of patients who suffer from dementia, particularly benefiting GPs and other healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists. The fund also supported the production of Conflict Resolution Training, where frontline staff are trained to de-escalate conflicts in the healthcare environment.

With the support from Freeport East, Revolve Labs now has more than five new modules in the production pipeline. This includes modules for “End-of-Life Care” and the “ReSPECT” process for care decisions in emergency situations. The professionals can learn how to handle different situations with an appropriate bedside manner in both modules. In addition, the Innovation & Skills Fund subsidised the filming of VR modules on GP Home Visits, Women’s Health and Agricultural Suicide. Following the grant, Revolve Labs also expanded its team, bringing in new hires and hosting degree students from Eastern Education Group on work placements.

Besides backing the production of VR modules, the Freeport East grant also helped Revolve Labs to distribute VR headsets to healthcare organisations for training. The firm has also partnered with the NHS and Ikon Training to deliver over 250-500 training experiences to healthcare workers in just three months. Since receiving funding, about 130 healthcare workers have participated in face-to-face training sessions, where professionals, including GPs and Biochemists, are trained to provide care to patients with chronic pain, dementia and beyond.

Demand for training is expected to grow as Revolve Labs expands its reach to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the South London Primary Workforce Academy. An extra 30 headsets will be distributed with the training content, which is expected to reach an audience of over 1000 in the near future.

Thanks to the grant from Freeport East, Hamish Mackenzie, the CEO and Founder of Revolve Labs is confident the firm will see further growth. He said,

“Freeport East empowered us to grow our immersive VR training platform to the broader market across the UK. This year, the Innovation & Skills Fund will allow us to increase our library of training modules for primary care to having 10 modules in total. As we managed to roll out the product to more organisations, we hope to expand our market by developing training modules for sectors such as energy, transport or even hospitality in the future.”