Because of its benefits in providing an engaging and mobile environment, virtual reality (VR) has recently been rapidly adopted and integrated in education and professional training. Augmented reality (AR) is the integration of VR with the real world, where the real world provides context and the virtual world provides or reconstructs missing information. Mixed reality (MR) is the blending of virtual and physical reality environments allowing users to interact with both digital and physical objects at the same time. In recent years, technology for creating reality-based 3D models has advanced and spread across a diverse range of applications and research fields. The purpose of this paper is to design, develop, and test VR for kinaesthetic distance learning in a museum setting. A VR training program has been developed in which learners can select and perform pre-made scenarios in a virtual environment. The interaction in the program is based on kinaesthetic learning characteristics. Scenarios with VR controls simulate physical interaction with objects in a virtual environment for learners. Learners can grasp and lift objects to complete scenario tasks. There are also simulated devices in the virtual environment that learners can use to perform various actions. The study’s goal was to compare the effectiveness of the developed VR educational program to that of other types of educational material. Our innovation is the development of a system for combining their 3D visuals with rendering capable of providing a mobile VR experience for effective heritage enhancement.

Currently, the integration of immersive virtual reality applications into learning management systems is limited, which disadvantages kinesthetic learners, as the majority of learning material is mostly written or visual in nature. This research presents a method on how to transform existing conventional learning material into immersive virtual reality and integrate it into learning management systems, demonstrating it with a pilot study and an immersive virtual reality application prototype. The prototype application uses WebXR technology and provides integration into the Moodle learning management system using the Sharable Content Object Reference Model standard. The developed learning object was evaluated using the System Usability Scale, Web-based Learning Tool evaluation scale and the igroup Presence Questionnaire. The results of the pilot study revealed that the learning object performed above average in all tested fields and is preferable to established non-IVR solutions.

Effective healthcare education must address not only clinical knowledge but also communication, teamwork, and decision-making under pressure. Extended Reality (XR) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities for immersive, scalable communication training, yet raises critical concerns related to safety, reliability, and learner trust. This paper presents the design rationale and early insights from VirtualHealEd, a human-centred hybrid AI–XR simulation for healthcare communication and interaction training. The platform integrates conversational AI, speech recognition, and immersive XR while employing a hybrid architecture that combines generative AI with deterministic system components to ensure safety in life-critical scenarios. In parallel, multimodal data, including speech transcripts, performance indicators, and physiological signals—are collected to explore stress and cognitive load during AI-mediated interactions with healthcare students (n = 52). Early observations suggest that AI-driven dialogue increases learners’ workload, with substantial inter-individual variability, highlighting the need for adaptive, stress-aware learning designs. The paper contributes design principles for safe hybrid intelligence in healthcare XR education and outlines challenges and future directions for stress-aware adaptive simulations.