The 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Europe Symposium will occur on November 13-14th, 2025 in Reykjavík, Iceland. The 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Europe Symposium convenes a select community of clinicians, technologists, researchers, policy-makers, and industry players who shape how immersive technologies (VR/AR/XR) are applied in healthcare. Organized by the International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association (IVRHA), this year’s edition emphasizes the transition from pilot projects to sustainable clinical implementation. This HealthySimulation.com article by Teresa Gore, PhD, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CHSE-A, FSSH, FAAN, will provide an overview of this symposium along with rationale for healthcare simulation professionals to attend.
Symposium Theme 2025
This year’s theme, Immersive Futures in Health: From Evidence to Implementation”, reflects the maturing stage of immersive-health adoption. The focus is on the full lifecycle: from research evidence and proofs-of-concept, through workflow integration, to scaling and reimbursement. Delegates will explore not just ‘what’ immersive health can do, but ‘how’ to embed it in real-world care, training, rehabilitation, and patient experience pathways.
Symposium Co-Chairs Leadership
Key to this symposium is its leadership team, guiding the vision, content and structure. There are two symposium co-chairs.
- Dr. Walter Greenleaf: Dr. Greenleaf serves as Co-Chair of the Symposium and brings over three decades of neuroscience and clinical-VR development experience. He is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s MediaX program and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. His research has focused on applying VR and digital health technologies to address behavioral and physical medicine challenges, such as PTSD, traumatic brain injury, stroke, addiction, and autism spectrum disorders. Dr. Greenleaf’s involvement as Co-Chair ensures that the Symposium remains grounded in rigorous clinical evidence, translational pathways, and regulatory/implementation strategy for immersive health.
- Tristan Gribbin: Tristan Gribbin is Co-Chair alongside Dr. Greenleaf and brings a complementary mix of tech-entrepreneurship, immersive experience design, and wellness-meditation expertise. She is Founder & CEO of Flow, a platform offering meditation tools via VR, web, and mobile, now moving into healthcare applications. Based in Reykjavík, Iceland, Gribbin has previously worked in theatre and film and then shifted into immersive wellbeing. Flow received Icelandic government grants and international recognition: “Best Icelandic Startup Award”. As Co-Chair, Gribbin strengthens the Symposium’s emphasis on user experience, wellness-oriented immersive health, and the intersection of mindfulness/therapeutic VR and realistic adoption models.
Keynote and Featured Speakers
These speakers span academia, clinical practice, industry, and venture, offering a holistic outlook on immersive health’s current frontier.
- Dr. Walter Greenleaf – special address on “Virtual Reality Technology, Machine Learning & Biosensing in Health”
- Dr. Skip Rizzo – focus on virtual humans in clinical VR
- Nanea Reeves – industry viewpoint on immersive wellness and consumer-health crossover
- Bala Kamallakharan – investment & scale-up of immersive health ventures
- Tristan Gribbin – Co-Chair keynote on immersive wellness & healthcare bridges
View the HealthySimulation.com Webinar Is VR the Future of Nurse Education and Training? A Panel Review to learn more!
Symposium: Location and Venue
The event takes place in Reykjavík, Iceland, an innovative, compact city well-suited for immersive-health gatherings. Day 1 is at a central venue in Reykjavík’s city center. Day 2 moves to the campus of Reykjavík University to provide access to labs and research-adjacent environments. The November timing offers crisp, energised weather and a distinctive Scandinavian-influenced backdrop conducive to deep networking and focus. Attendees will enjoy a social welcome event on November 11, 2025.
Program Highlights
The two-day program is structured for breadth through keynote presentations, depth through technical sessions, and interactivity through poster sessions, demos, and an exhibition.
Symposium Day 1
The symposium has many exciting events, from the open session to the evening reception. Here are some highlights from Day 1:
- Opening addresses by the Co-Chairs (Greenleaf & Gribbin) framing evidence-to-implementation
- Keynote by Dr. Greenleaf on VR in behavioural/physical medicine
- Clinical case session on XR for chronic pain
- Panel on scaling immersive tech in care systems
- Session by Dr. Rizzo on virtual humans in clinical VR
- Evening reception
Symposium Day 2
There will be many exciting events on Day 2 of the symposium. Here are some of the highlights:
- Keynote by Gribbin on immersive wellness and patient-centred VR
- Breakout university research sessions at Reykjavík University
- Poster session showcasing emerging work (VR telerehabilitation, avatar therapy, immersive diabetes care)
- Exhibitor demo area open all day – hardware, software, biosensor-enabled systems
Poster Presentations
The poster session on Day 2 offers a rich forum for emerging work. Example poster titles include:
- “Visualizing Airborne Particle Dispersion in the Operating Room using VR”
- “VR and Avatars in Psychosis & Severe Disorders”
- “VR-Based Telerehabilitation for Reminiscence Therapy in Cognitive Impairment”
- “HOPE App: Immersive Intervention for Diabetes Care in Older Adults”
Exhibition and Industry Showcase
Alongside the academic and clinical program, the exhibition floor features startups, vendors, and labs showcasing immersive hardware, software, sensors, and workflow-integrated systems. With both Tristan Gribbin’s entrepreneurial network and Dr. Greenleaf’s clinical-product orientation, the exhibitor mix is expected to emphasize both wellness/consumer-health and rigorous clinical-deployment pathways.
View the new HealthySimulation.com Community XR – Extended Reality Group to discuss this topic with your Global Healthcare Simulation peers!
Why Healthcare Simulation Professionals Should Attend?
For healthcare simulation professionals (simulation educators, simulation-center directors, training specialists, and technology integrators), this symposium is especially valuable:
- Cutting-edge insight: The leadership of Greenleaf and Gribbin ensures attendees will hear from both clinical VR innovation veterans and immersive wellness entrepreneurs. This helps bridge the gap between simulation training use-cases and broader immersive-health deployment.
- Interprofessional network: With both clinical/academic and entrepreneurial tracks, attendees can meet vendors, simulation specialists, researchers, and healthcare system leaders, which enables new cross-disciplinary connections.
- Hands-on demo space: The exhibition and poster areas give attendees direct access to immersive platforms that allow them to test and evaluate what might integrate into their simulation program, training lab, or assessment workflow.
- Implementation-focused: The theme emphasizes moving from proof-of-concept to scale. For simulation professionals, that means learning not just “what VR can do” but “how to embed it reliably into training programs, across groups, and with measurable outcomes.”
- Leadership in immersive training: As simulation professionals increasingly incorporate immersive technologies (VR/AR) for team training, procedural rehearsal, and patient-care simulation, this symposium positions attendees ahead of the curve as a thought-leaders in their institution.
- Unique venue and intimate size: Being held in Reykjavík, Iceland, and limited in size, the event offers an intimate, high-engagement environment. That means deeper conversations, stronger networking, and opportunities to influence or collaborate with speakers and vendors.
Practical Information and Tips
-
Register early: Ticket numbers are limited and demand is strong given the focused nature of the event.
-
Accommodation: Many hotel options in central Reykjavík are available; consider booking early.
-
Poster participation: If you have simulation-oriented immersive-training work (VR simulation of procedures, team-VR scenarios, AR overlays for debrief), consider submitting a poster to present.
-
Networking strategy: Prepare a succinct “what we do in our simulation centre” elevator pitch and be ready to talk about immersive training aspirations. Use the welcome reception to connect in a relaxed setting.
-
Follow-up plan: After the Symposium, plan to bring back key take-aways to your simulation leadership team — e.g., pilot topics, vendor list, collaboration leads and actionable ideas for integrating VR/AR.
The 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Europe Symposium in Reykjavík (November 13–14, 2025) promises to be a high-impact event — anchored by Co-Chairs Dr Walter Greenleaf and Tristan Gribbin, a compelling program, and a unique location. It’s highly relevant for simulation professionals seeking to lead in immersive training and healthcare innovation. Whether you’re developing VR simulation modules, exploring AR for team training, or testing new immersive patient pathways — this is a strategic forum.
Register for the 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Europe Symposium!
