Turning Microbiology Into an Immersive Game World

Teaching microbiology should not be intimidating. In this episode, Dr. Jane Harrington shares how she is turning complex infectious disease concepts into immersive, tactile learning through VR and spatial computing with MedMicroMaps. She explains why traditional tools fail many learners and how serious games can transform long term retention in STEM and medical education.

Dr. Jane Harrington is the founder and CEO of MedMicroMaps, an NSF SBIR backed startup building visual spatial tactile learning experiences for microbiology in VR and mobile. With more than a decade teaching medical students and training thousands of doctors and nurses, she combines deep microbiology expertise with evidence based learning science to design serious games that actually work for adolescents, pre med students, and future clinicians.

In this conversation, we cover how MedMicroMaps was born during the pandemic, why her daughter’s health journey shaped the mission, and what it really takes to build an educational product that students want to use and educators can trust. We also dig into the role of AI, data privacy, and Tech for Good in the next wave of spatial computing.

What we cover:

Why microbiology feels intimidating and how to change that
How MedMicroMaps turns microbes into interactive 3D game assets
The difference between serious games and lightweight quiz apps
Using VR hand tracking and tactile interaction to improve retention
How Dr. Jane blends medical school level rigor with teen friendly design
The impact of the pandemic on medical and STEM education tools
Where AI helps in development and where it does not belong in learner data
Funding, NSF SBIR, and building a “mom and pop” deep tech startup
Why spatial computing may be the next major shift in STEM learning

Chapters
00:00 Turning microbes into a game and lowering the fear of science
00:55 Show intro and MedMicroMaps overview
01:28 Dr. Jane’s path from eight year old with a microscope to professor
03:02 Why she left academia to start MedMicroMaps
05:57 Co founding with her husband and blending art, tech, and science
09:05 NSF grant, early users, and focus on teens and STEM programs
11:02 Inside the VR experience and how the virus gameplay works
15:06 Serious games, quizzes, and giving educators real learning data
19:16 Writing vs typing, tactile learning, and long term memory
24:52 Are we over relying on AI and search for thinking and recall
25:27 Tech for Good and why spatial computing matters for learners
27:37 Hardware advances, Meta Quest, and motion sickness challenges
29:21 How MedMicroMaps uses AI in dev while protecting student privacy
33:29 Product roadmap, microbe library, and long term mastery vision
35:03 Biggest challenges in translating medical language for teens
37:03 Takeaways on the joy of science and who can learn microbiology
38:23 Where to find MedMicroMaps and follow Dr. Jane’s work

Guest and Aveneera links

MedMicroMaps Website: https://medmicromaps.com

Aveneera Website: https://aveneera.com/
Aveneera LinkedIn:   / aveneera  


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From The Growth Stack by Aveneera.

Hashtags:
#TheGrowthStack #MedMicroMaps #STEMEducation #VRLearning #SpatialComputing #EdTech #HealthTech #Microbiology #TechForGood #ImmersiveLearning #SeriousGames #MedicalEducation