What 117 participants across five Spanish pilot sites told us

The study was conducted in two phases. In the first stage, conducted in the fall of 2025 at the universities of Málaga and Granada, access via a web browser was tested with 51 medical students, most of whom had never used virtual reality before; at both centers, 19 and 28 participants, respectively, completed the pre-test questionnaire. The second phase was moved to clinical and teaching facilities in early 2026: in January-doctors from Hospital de Antequera; in February-gynecology and pediatrics residents from Hospital Materno-Infantil; and the following day-nurses from San Juan de Dios Comillas Hospital. In parallel with the pilot projects, 25 semi-structured interviews and 5 co-creation workshops were conducted with the participation of clinicians, educators, simulation coordinators, and training managers. The evaluation combined pre- and post-session surveys with qualitative feedback sessions and observations by the facilitators. At San Juan de Dios Comillas Hospital, 29 participants completed a pre-test questionnaire, and the evaluation following the pilot program was qualitative rather than based on a survey-therefore, the averages reported above for the campaign are not simply the average of 117 people.

Stability was non-negotiable. Browser instability in the initial phase-session crashes, data loss, incomplete logs-was the biggest obstacle to purchase intent throughout the entire campaign. This had nothing to do with scenario design, artificial intelligence, or price. A training tool that crashes in front of a group of doctors won’t get a second invitation, and the report clearly states that this problem needed to be resolved before any marketing activities began. The less pleasant side of this same conclusion: the above assessments were gathered from people who liked the concept. The obstacle was never whether people wanted it.