METAHEFO is the new European project that is co-funded by the European Commission, in which UCAM participates, focused on creating a metaverse capable of helping teachers and students carry out podiatric simulations in virtual environments. To this end, the UCAM Degree in Podiatry and its Virtual Reality Laboratory, together with the New Technologies for Health Research Group, will work together with 5 European partners from Malta, Finland and Portugal over the next 3 years to create the first metaverse of the foot.

This work ‘aims to investigate the use of virtual reality in the classroom, as a teaching innovation project, resulting in a library of immersive experiences that allow students to train with the latest available technologies,’ says the principal investigator of the project at UCAM and vice-dean of the Degree in Podiatry, Manuel Pardo.

Thanks to its vast teaching experience in this new medium, UCAM will be the partner in charge of the modelling and recording the first case studies. In addition, due to their experience in the use of this innovative technology, UCAM researchers will give training courses to the rest of the participating institutions so as to show them the possibilities of the metaverse, so that they can teach in their centres, as well as the methods of content creation.

These technologies ‘make it possible to add the third dimension to educational experiences, thus catalysing the learning process to make it much more interactive and effective,’ says Pau Guardiola, UI/UX director of the UCAM Multimedia Department.

This European project, co-financed by the European Commission, is part of the internationalisation strategy of UCAM. Thanks to the Vice-Rector’s Office for Research, through the International Projects Office and the different departments of the University, 20 research projects are being carried out with a total European funding of over 20 million euros.