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Issue 12: 9.2025
In This Issue:
Welcome to this special edition of the VRD Report, spotlighting our most recent accomplishments and expanding footprint across Latin America. As we continue to lead in the development and application of immersive technologies for mental health, education, and human development, our presence in the region is growing stronger through impactful partnerships and high-level engagements.
In this issue, you’ll read about our exciting new agreement in Guatemala with Psychologist Luis Pedro Figueroa, who is championing the integration of VRD tools in mental health care. We also share highlights from our collaboration with UNIVERSAE University in Costa Rica, where a certified VR lab is on the horizon and professors are already being trained to certify others. Our outreach continues in Panama, where promising conversations are underway with health and HR professionals.
Additionally, you’ll find updates on upcoming training opportunities, including a free webinar for psychologists in Costa Rica and a new certification course scheduled for July. From regional certifications to institutional collaborations, VRD HealthTech is proud to help shape a future where technology and health work hand in hand.
Happy reading!
- The VRD HealthTech team
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The "Immersive Tech Talk" Podcast series continues!
Our sixth episode featured Dr. Russell Shilling, a nationally recognized innovator at the intersection of technology, mental health, and immersive media.
Why Training and Certification Matter at VRD HealthTech
- July 2025, San Jose -
In Costa Rica, Dr. Samantha Saborío, Client Satisfaction Specialist at VRD HealthTech, completed advanced training on the PsyTechVR app, a tool designed for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Exposure Therapy.
Becoming knowledgeable in clinical VR isn’t a checkbox for our team. It’s how we turn promising technology into safe, effective, and repeatable care. Once Dr. Saborío completed her training, we moved quickly to create an advanced certification program for Costa Rican psychologists. Demand was clear, clinician readiness was high, and the benefits we were seeing— more consistent protocols, higher patient engagement, clearer documentation— were too significant to delay.
Additionally, VRD delivered the Certification Course in Virtual Reality Applications, sponsored by the Board of Professional Psychologists of Costa Rica. Participants gained hands-on experience with digital solutions such as Cognitive Leap's vCAT Assessment, Virtuleap's EnhanceVR, and Healium, reinforcing VRD’s commitment to empowering professionals with clinically validated VR tools.
One participant in the certification course, Dr. Evelyn Alvarado, said, "I consider VRD apps to be a valuable tool for understanding the profile of executive functions, and they should be taken as part of the testing protocol for a comprehensive and neuro-affirmative diagnosis, where we can observe both the difficulties or challenges, as well as the person’s skills and abilities. The speed and the data provided significantly reduce the time required for evaluation and analysis."
When asked about resistance to the adoption of innovative tools, she added, "I feel that patients welcome innovation. I believe that resistance may come more from professionals who are not yet familiar with this tool and continue to adhere strictly to traditional methods."
Photo: Dr. Roberto Rodríguez and Dr. Samantha Saborío, the instructors of the certification course.
Panama Leadership Launch
- July 2025, Panama -
In Panama, psychologist Dr. Yaribel Domínguez will accelerate the adoption of immersive health technologies in the Panamanian clinical and academic sectors, driving forward a new era of mental health innovation in the region.
Dr. Yaribel Domínguez is the first clinical psychologist in Panama certified by VRD HealthTech. By using the newest tools on the market, like vCAT, she is disrupting the traditional way of assessing students.
K-12 teachers from Panama are impressed by how the technology could help them more quickly identify issues with students´ attention processes. Dr. Dominguez continues to share how vCAT makes time management for assessments more efficient in schools.
In addition, VRD HealthTech´s Panamanian representatives are moving forward with the public health system to create a national pilot test using Healium. This stress-management app can be used in conjunction with patients who are receiving treatments for chemotherapy and hemodialysis, to help reduce discomfort and more. A concept that, only a couple of months ago, began as an idea during a conversation between VRD's CEO, Shari Marion, and Panamanian Ambassador Dr. Pacifico Escalona, now takes a step forward toward improving people’s quality of life while being treated.
Photo: Shari Marion, CEO of VRD HealthTech, and Panamanian Ambassador Escalona.
Applied Innovation in Therapy
On August 9th, 2025, VRD HealthTech led a workshop for Physical and Occupational Therapists in Costa Rica, under the sponsorship of the national Board of Therapists.
Professionals tested two advanced applications:
Augment Therapy's ARWell Pro for rehabilitation support, and Virtuleap's EnhanceVR for cognitive training. Both solutions combine physical with cognitive therapy, and demonstrate the transformative role of VR and AR in therapeutic practice.
"I would implement virtual reality with patients with various conditions where immersion and work in controlled environments can provide significant benefits," one participant, Dr. Jenifer Núñez Mussio, said. "I expect my patients to accept the use of virtual reality with openness and curiosity, as it represents an innovative and attractive tool that enriches the therapeutic process. Being an immersive technology, it generates greater motivation and commitment, facilitating active participation in both evaluation and interventions.
Moreover, by offering safe and controlled environments, patients are likely to feel trust and comfort when exposed to situations that are otherwise difficult to address in real life."
Dr. Mussio continues, "This integration will strengthen the quality of my interventions, broaden my professional resources, and enable me to meet the current needs of a population increasingly familiar with digital environments. For evaluation purposes, VR makes it possible to record behaviors, as well as physiological and emotional reactions in real time, generating objective data that complements traditional techniques."
Advanced Certification - VR for Exposure Therapy
On Saturday, August 23, 2025, a daring group of psychologists was certified for the use of the PsyTechVR app, an innovation in psychological therapy. Taught by VRD HealthTech, this advanced course outlined how the technology is used for Cognitive-Behavioral and Exposure Therapy.
Dr. Jenifer Núñez Mussio, who attended the certification course in addition to the advanced course, commented on the significant benefits of "implement[ing] virtual reality with patients with various conditions where immersion benefits them" and allows both patient and professional to "work in controlled environments."
For the PsyTechVR app, this includes a large, clinician-curated library of scenarios for phobias, social anxiety, OCD-related triggers, PTSD contexts, and skills training—delivered on the Meta Quest VR device. Dr. Mussio explains that the value of this technology for many fear-based conditions can be addressed with "safe recreation of scenarios for desensitization and emotional restructuring, through gradual exposure and coping skills training."
"Implementation would be carried out in a complementary way to traditional clinical intervention, ensuring relevance, safety, and adaptation to the individual needs of each patient," she says.
PsyTechVR is at the forefront of mental health technology and is heralded as a safe method to grow and train important skills. As Dr. Mussio puts it, "In terms of intervention, it provides the opportunity to design immersive and safe experiences where users can rehearse skills, gradually face challenging situations, or practice coping strategies in contexts close to real life but without risk."
The 5th Annual AR/VR Policy Conference: September 9th, 2025
Location: Washington, D.C.
This conference will focus on policy discussions around AR/VR, including privacy, safety, AI, educational applications, and youth-related concerns.
iMETA 2025: October 14–17, 2025
Location: Dubrovnik, Croatia
Intelligent Metaverse Technologies & Applications — This conference includes key discussions on emerging metaverse tech.
7th Annual VR and Healthcare Europe Symposium: November 13-14, 2025
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
This event convenes clinicians, researchers, technologists, investors, and policy leaders to share practical, cutting-edge XR applications in healthcare through talks, panels, and exhibits—with a stated emphasis on unique content and emerging voices across care, technology, research, and policy.
