What if every learner had an expert coach watching every attempt?
Operio is an XR platform developed at Queen's University's Chung Lab that lets health sciences learners practice procedural medical skills independently, with AI that watches, measures, and coaches every attempt.
No instructor needed. No practicing wrong. Real-time feedback calibrated against expert performance, available anytime the learner is ready.
An XR headset. A physical training arm.
An AI that never stops watching.
Learners put on a Meta Quest 3 headset and practice on a real training arm. The XR system captures every movement — needle angle, trajectory, force, timing, workflow. The AI compares each attempt against expert benchmarks and delivers a detailed coaching report. No instructor in the room. No guessing whether they're getting it right.
From headset to mastery.
Here's what actually happens.
Operio is an XR platform that lets health sciences learners practice procedural skills independently, with AI feedback that catches mistakes before they become habits.
Learner Puts on the Headset
Using a Meta Quest 3 headset paired with a physical training arm, the learner enters a fully immersive extended reality environment. No instructor needed. No scheduling bottleneck. The simulation is available whenever the learner is ready to practice.
The XR environment overlays holographic guidance directly onto the physical task, showing insertion angles, vein paths, and procedural steps in real space.
The Headset Watches Every Move
While the learner practices, the Meta Quest 3 silently records 13 objective performance metrics: insertion angle, needle trajectory, movement smoothness, hazard zone proximity, workflow sequencing, and more. Every attempt is logged with no human rater required.
This data is the foundation of everything. Kinematics, spatial positioning, timing, and safety markers are all captured automatically and compared against expert benchmarks.
AI Delivers Immediate Feedback
After each attempt, the AI generates a structured scorecard and a written performance report. It explains what went wrong, why it matters clinically, and what to focus on next. Real-time safety alerts fire the moment a critical threshold is crossed, such as an unsafe technique or excessive force.
Feedback thresholds are calibrated from expert performance distributions, so learners are always coached toward real clinical standards rather than arbitrary benchmarks.
Longitudinal Progress, No Bad Habits.
Practicing wrong, over and over, doesn't build skill. It builds the wrong skill. OPERIO's AI tracks performance across every session and surfaces the patterns learners keep getting wrong. Over time, it shows what's improving and where to focus next.
Learners receive ongoing feedback on their progress over time, giving them a clear picture of how their skills are developing and what to keep working on.
"Without feedback, learners don't practice until they get it right —
they practice until they stop noticing they're getting it wrong."
Operio closes the feedback loop, session by session, rep by rep.
Real-time feedback.
Longitudinal progress.
After every attempt, learners see exactly where they stand against expert benchmarks — and how they're trending over time.
Your lateral deviation of 3.1mm exceeds the expert threshold. In clinical practice, this increases the risk of vein wall trauma and haematoma. Focus on reducing wrist movement during needle advancement.
Improving trend detected. Needle trajectory deviation has decreased 38% across 5 sessions. Workflow sequencing consistently strong.
Persistent gap flagged. Movement smoothness remains below expert threshold across all 5 sessions. Targeted coaching recommended.
Practicing correctly — repeatedly — is how procedural competency is built.
Operio ensures every repetition is a step forward, not a step toward cementing the wrong technique.
Starting with IV Insertion. Expanding to Suturing and Beyond.
IV venipuncture is the foundation, validated at Queen's, then expanded to the full procedural curriculum.
IV Venipuncture
The foundational procedural skill across nursing, medicine, and allied health.
Suturing
Advanced procedural skills for surgical and medical training programs.
Incisions & Beyond
Surgical fundamentals and an expanding procedural skills library.
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Operio took home two awards at the University of New Brunswick's Apex Startup Challenge, winning both the People's Choice Award and the Startup Innovation Award.
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At the Telfer School of Management pitch competition, Operio earned 2nd place in the traction category ($5,000) and the People's Choice Award ($2,000).
Read moreDDQIC: 2nd Place Overall and Viewer's Choice Award — $25,000 in prizes
Operio competed at the Dunin-Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre pitch competition and won second place overall as well as the viewer's choice award, for a combined $25,000 in prizes.
Read moreBuilt from research. Designed for real institutions.
Operio is an academic project with a clear path to clinical adoption. If you're interested in a collaboration or pilot, we'd love to connect.