UK immersive technology company FourPlus, alongside the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and Holosphere, have been awarded funding from Innovate UK to create and test a mixed reality training platform for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.
The project will support the development of a customisable platform with mixed reality and multi-player capabilities. Around 75% of the £1m investment in the project is coming from this Innovate UK grant.
The digital and automated training platform will be specifically designed by FourPlus to provide training for a number of manufacturing roles within the cell and gene therapy, biopharmaceutical and wider life science sectors.
The platform will support companies in the initial training of their staff and the creation of digital training records. It will also enable healthcare trainers and trainees to collaborate seamlessly within virtual training environments. Additionally, the grant will facilitate the integration of data analytics tools, providing valuable insights for training and competency assessment purposes.
Once developed, the platform will be tested with apprentices who are part of the Advanced Therapies Apprenticeship Community (ATAC), a network coordinated by the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult.
A first release of the training platform will be available to the market for demonstration by the end of 2023.
“To feed the expected growth of the cell and gene therapy industry we need to employ innovation in every area. FourPlus’ innovative use of virtual and mixed reality is a great example of new technology meeting need. We look forward to working with FourPlus, Holosphere and our apprentice community to test this platform.”
Matthew Durdy, Chief Executive of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult
“We are really excited to be starting this innovative project with Holosphere and Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. We already know that virtual reality is a powerful way to support training of new sector employees, as it reduces cost, time, facility use and waste production. This project will deliver the next generation solution, that integrates mixed reality, training customisation, multi-user interactivity, data analytics and training support features. We will integrate best-in-class networked co-localisation technology, designed by project partners Holosphere, and Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult will support through testing with sector apprentices.”
FourPlus CEO, Dr Ivan Wall
“Mixed reality and passthrough technologies are now ready to enable high quality shared immersive experiences and enhance communication between users. Holosphere are delighted to be working with FourPlus and the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult to apply this to their next generation of training tools.”
Holosphere’s Technical Director Sean Duffy
This project has been awarded funding through the Digitalisation and Automation of Medicines R&D and Manufacture competition.