Metaverse Lab-XR: Virtual Lab for Students

A Chula Medical Technology lecturer has developed Metaverse Lab-XR, an innovative virtual laboratory that allows students to practice lab procedures and develop the soft skills needed for real-world work in hospitals, preparing them to become skilled and knowledgeable medical technologists.

Highlights

·       Virtual Lab Offers Unlimited Practice While Reducing Infection Risks

·       Fungal Infection Diagnosis as the First Virtual Lab

·       Building Well-Rounded Skills for Future Medical Technologists  

·       Virtual Lab Improves Learning by 20%

·       Inspiring the Future of Medical Technology

For medical technology students, laboratory skills are just as important as theoretical knowledge. However, developing these skills into expertise requires extensive hands-on practice. This “used to be” a challenge for third- and fourth-year students at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, in their Clinical Microbiology classes.

“In this course, students first study the theory before moving on to a three-hour practical session in a simulated laboratory. The department prepares the lab for around 100 students, but not everyone learns at the same pace. Some students pick things up quickly, while others may still be getting familiar with the lab environment when the session ends, leaving them little time to fully understand what they are learning before they have to move on to a new topic.” Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn Worasilchai, a lecturer in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, explained the challenge that inspired the development of Metaverse Lab-XR, an innovative learning tool for medical technology students. The innovation received the Excellent Innovation Award for Outstanding Innovation in Student Development from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research, and Innovation (MHESI) in September 2025.

“We want to make sure that all students reach the same level before moving on to the next lesson. With Metaverse Lab-XR, students can learn and practice laboratory procedures in a virtual environment that simulates a hospital laboratory—the setting where they will eventually work after graduation. In this virtual environment, students can practice teamwork among healthcare professionals, laboratory management, the diagnosis of infectious diseases, and other essential skills they will need as medical technologists.”

Virtual Lab Offers Unlimited Practice While Reducing Infection Risks

The Metaverse Lab-XR virtual laboratory has been in use since early 2024, allowing students to test their understanding of course content and practice laboratory skills for diagnosing infectious diseases as often as they need.

“Students can practice laboratory procedures independently in the virtual environment. If they feel they are not yet confident in their lab skills, they can go back and practice as many times as they need. At the end of each lesson, they are assessed to determine whether they have achieved the required level of proficiency.” This approach helps ensure that “no one is left behind,” allowing students to reach a similar level of proficiency before moving on to the next lesson together.

– Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn

Learning through the virtual lab also helps reduce risks and better prepares students for hands-on training in the simulated laboratory.

“Clinical Microbiology is a practical course in which students learn to diagnose infectious diseases using actual patient specimens. Setting up simulated laboratory sessions requires time, personnel, and specimen preparation. We also have to prepare various strains of microorganisms for students to work with, which requires a considerable amount of biological material. Sometimes, however, we are not able to make the most effective use of these infectious materials because students have not yet had enough hands-on practice or experience.”

“With Metaverse Lab-XR, students can first become familiar with laboratory procedures in the virtual environment. Once they become more confident and proficient, they can make better use of infectious biological specimens during hands-on training in the simulated lab, while also reducing the risk of infection.”

Fungal Infection Diagnosis as the First Virtual Lab

Among the various types of infectious diseases, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn chose fungal infections as the first area of diagnostic training for Metaverse Lab-XR.

“Specimens used for fungal testing in the simulated laboratory include tissue, hair, skin, tears, cerebrospinal fluid, and blood, all of which are considered biohazards. Some fungi can also be transmitted through inhalation, posing a risk to students. We therefore have students train in Metaverse Lab-XR first so they can become familiar with the procedures and build their skills before entering the simulated laboratory.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn explained how the training works: “Students work as though they were in an actual hospital laboratory. They have to test for different types of fungi and deal with simulated problems—for example, calling a patient by the wrong name, receiving a specimen that does not match what the doctor requested, or getting a negative fungal test result even though the patient clearly shows signs of a fungal infection.”

“After completing the training, students take part in a debriefing session, which is an important part of the learning process. An expert instructor, or facilitator, reviews the scenario with the students and helps them identify anything that may have gone wrong—for example, a patient’s name not matching the specimen, receiving a specimen different from the one requested by the doctor, or failing to detect a fungal infection despite the patient’s symptoms and medical history clearly indicating one.”

Looking ahead, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn has plans to develop additional scenarios involving bacterial, respiratory, and viral infections, as well as more challenging cases involving patients with underlying conditions and particularly complex diagnoses.

Building Well-Rounded Skills for Future Medical Technologists  

Beyond technical skills, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn explained that medical technologists also need strong non-technical skills. Metaverse Lab-XR is therefore designed to help students develop essential soft skills alongside their professional training.

“Medical technologists need seamless communication and the ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary healthcare team. They need to know how to communicate with doctors and nurses to help ensure that patients receive the most accurate diagnosis possible. “They also need critical management skills. It cannot simply be ‘first come, first served.’ They must be able to assess which patients are in critical condition and whose test results need to be prioritized. They also need that instinct to stop and ask, ‘Something doesn’t add up here.’ If a patient shows clear signs of an infection but the test comes back negative for fungi, what could have gone wrong? Students need to be able to investigate and trace the problem back to its source.”

Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn gave an example of how students learn through the virtual lab: “The process begins with pre-analytical skills. Before accepting a specimen, students need to know what to check, starting with the patient’s name. They then move on to the analysis stage, where they need to know which reagents to use. They must also review the patient’s medical history and determine whether the specimen they have received is consistent with the patient’s symptoms and appropriate for answering the doctor’s clinical question—for example, whether the patient may have a particular type of fungal infection. If something does not make sense, students need to be able to communicate their concerns to the doctor.”

“If we simply go ahead with a test even when something doesn’t make sense, there are consequences for everyone. It adds unnecessary work for the laboratory and delays testing for other patients. The doctor still does not get the answer they need, and worse, the patient may end up paying for an unnecessary test and waiting longer for results when they could have received treatment sooner.”

Virtual Lab Improves Learning by 20%

Through observation and research, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn found that Metaverse Lab-XR improved students’ learning outcomes by approximately 20%.

“We have received very positive feedback from students who have used Metaverse Lab-XR. They say it is fun and challenging. One of the strengths of this generation is that they don’t give up easily. After completing the game, they receive an assessment of their skills in different areas. If they see that their friends have scored higher, they go back and try again because they want to do better.”

Beyond making learning more engaging, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn discovered an unexpected benefit of the virtual environment.

“Students told us they feel psychologically safe. When they are practicing in the lab with an instructor present, they may feel embarrassed in front of their classmates or the instructor if they don’t perform well, even though they want to improve. In the virtual lab, they can practice privately, without anyone watching, until they become more confident and proficient. When they return to the simulated lab, they perform better and feel proud of what they can do.”

Inspiring the Future of Medical Technology

The Metaverse Lab-XR virtual laboratory began in a Clinical Microbiology course at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University. Looking ahead, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn hopes to see virtual labs like this adopted by universities and medical technology laboratories both in Thailand and abroad.

“We hope this innovation will be the starting point for more virtual labs. We developed it for Chula students to use first, but in the future, we would like to see it adopted by other universities and medical technology laboratories across the country. Medical technology involves a wide range of skills and specialized fields. If we all contribute to developing virtual labs, we could bring about significant change in the medical technology profession much more quickly.”

In closing, Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn said, “Metaverse Lab-XR will help strengthen both the technical and non-technical skills of medical technologists. It will also help break down the walls that separate the laboratory from other healthcare professions, ultimately benefiting patients.”

For more information about Metaverse Lab-XR, contact [email protected]

Read more at: https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/422901/