The CHI-Zone is anchored by the University of Liverpool’s Civic Health Innovation Labs (CHIL) and supported by the Virtual Engineering Centre (VEC), which benefit from a close working relationship with Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, through our Mental Health Research for Innovation Centre (M-RIC), and demonstrable expertise in research and development geared towards data-driven innovation and the use of immersive technologies.

Together, we commissioned primary research led by XR experts involving developers and clinicians to better understand the ways in which Extended Reality (XR) can enable delivery of the ‘three shifts’ articulated in the NHS 10-Year Plan and help tackle the ‘productivity crisis’ it outlines.

The identification of areas amenable to XR development for, and adoption by, community healthcare providers which underpins this call for applications for funding and support is the result.

You must be

• A UK-based technology SME developing XR solutions that are geared towards community healthcare provision; OR

• A UK-based consortium led by an industry partner.

The lead applicant must be a commercial, legal entity with a UK bank account that can accept grant funding. This organisation will manage the grant, coordinate project delivery, assume responsibility for reporting, and provide evidence of spend as required. 

*XR solutions, for our purposes, include Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications.

Grant awards of up to £20,000 are available and each recipient will, also, receive tailored support from CHIL and the VEC over a period of six months to help realise their prototyping ambitions - alongside access to clinical input from Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. This funding and support must be used to deliver a defined new project or significant new development/validation phase.

All grant funding awarded through the XR Solutions for Community Healthcare Programme must be fully disbursed and claimed by April 30th 2026. Applicants should ensure that their project plans and budgets clearly reflect this requirement.

Additional Considerations

Applicants who can offer match funding or in-kind contributions are strongly encouraged to highlight this in their submission. Such commitments will be viewed favourably as they indicate strong intent, reinforce project credibility, and help demonstrate readiness to maximise the impact and sustainability of the proposed solution.

Research commissioned through the CHI-Zone identified the following areas as amenable to XR development for, and adoption by, community healthcare providers:

• Education and training solutions for staff and patients

• New biosensing diagnostics

• Protocolised mental health treatment

• Engaging rehabilitation

• Alternative therapeutics associated with depression and anxiety, pain management and obesity

• Solutions designed to combat isolation

With that in mind, applicants may wish to develop or accelerate solutions that address one or more of the following questions:

• How might we reduce the cost and improve engagement with / the efficacy of education and training for the community healthcare workforce and patients using XR?

• How might we harness multi-modal data inputs to realise new diagnostics underpinned by the collection and analysis of biometric data at home and in community settings?

• How might we validate the use of XR in the delivery of protocolised mental health treatments at scale whilst safeguarding patients?

• How might we use XR to deliver engaging rehabilitation which improves its efficacy whilst lowering associated costs?

• How might we demonstrate the efficacy of novel XR therapeutics associated with the treatment of depression and anxiety, pain management and reducing obesity?

• How might we use XR to help combat isolation and demonstrate their impact along a number of clinical axes?

The projects we fund will be evidence-based, involve software and/or hardware development in the XR space, and should reflect the need for solutions to be co-designed and/or validated with clinicians and people who provide and/or draw on healthcare.

All applications must relate to new, clearly defined initiatives or significant new phases of development/validation that will be undertaken specifically as a result of this grant funding being awarded.

Applications must be received by 5PM on October 9th 2025. Late submissions will not be considered.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview on the 16th and 17th of October 2025. Funding decisions will be announced the following week.

By the end of the programme, projects should produce:

• A working prototype or minimum viable product (MVP)

• Real-world evidence from user interaction and/or testing of a prototype

• An evaluation and impact summary

• A roadmap for securing any investment that may be required for further development and implementation/scaling of an XR application

• Dissemination materials (e.g. case study, presentation)

All expenditure must be directly attributable to the objectives of the funded project, incurred within the agreed project period, and supported by appropriate evidence (such as receipts, invoices, or payroll records). Only costs that are clearly linked to project delivery will be eligible; routine day-to-day business expenses are not permitted. 

Examples of Eligible Expenditure (exclusive of VAT): 

• Salaries for staff members directly involved in delivering the project 

• Costs associated with expert input from health economists and/or NHS clinicians to assist with validation of an approach.

• NHS data access and/or processing charges

• Equipment purchases required for project delivery

• Public engagement and service user involvement activities, such as surveys or workshops 

Please contact us via chi-zone@liverpool.ac.uk if you would welcome further clarification and/or advice about costing expert input to complete your application.

Examples of Ineligible Expenditure: 

• International travel 

• Costs without supporting evidence 

• General consumables or day-to-day operational costs not specific to project delivery (e.g., routine lab supplies, office stationery)

Funding will be transferred to the lead applicant’s organisation once a full audit of invoices has been completed and evidenced. This must be a legal entity with a UK bank account that can accept grant funding. The lead organisation will be responsible for managing the grant, submitting reports, submitting evidence against claiming eligible spend and ensuring delivery against the proposal. The University of Liverpool may require evidence of eligibility prior to funding. 

A panel of experts will review proposals against the following criteria:

• Fit with the ‘three shifts’ articulated in the NHS 10-Yr Plan and potential to help tackle the ‘productivity crisis’ it outlines

• Innovative potential and relevance to those areas amenable to XR development and/or adoption identified by the research commissioned through the CHI-Zone

• The shape/scope of support requested from CHIL, the VEC and Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and fit with partners’ expertise

• Strength of project proposal and risk management

• Capability and experience of the team

Please get in touch with us at: chi-zone@liverpool.ac.uk