XRHealth, a digital health startup best known for its virtual reality technology, is now opening up its platform to third-party developers, the Boston-based company exclusively announced to MobiHealthNews. 

The end goal will be a tool kit for providers, payers and pharmas that will serve as a “one-stop shop” for VR products. 

The company, formerly known as VRHealth, is no stranger to developing VR apps. In fact, it has created a slew of its own apps focusing on everything from hot flashes to caregiving.

After working on this technology for years, a new idea donned on CEO Eran Orr. 

“We’ve been working in the healthcare market for the last three years and at some point we realized that providers and payers prefer to have a full suite of apps and not just a single app, and what we did in the last three years was develop backend analysis and remote monitoring capabilities, and were developing our own apps,” Orr told MobiHealthNews. “Then we realized instead of all the different developers out there spending a lot of money and time to work on [single apps], we realized we could join forces and offer [those tools] to them also, and to the customers we can offer a suite of apps and a tool box for them to use just for the healthcare market.”

The announcement coincides with the news that Healium, a platform that can track a user's brain patterns and heart rate and then transfer those patterns into a visual mindfulness, will be integrating with XRHealth’s platform. 

“Healium is an amazing company they are basically creating VR experiences that you can grow with biometric feedback using your Apple Watch," Orr said. "They can teach your body how to cope with stress while you can experience in VR if you are feeling good or bad."

WHY IT MATTERS

VR is still relatively new to the healthcare scene, but it is growing in both validation and popularity. The uses of the technology are still emerging, but studies have demonstrated its ability to reduce pain in a pediatric setting, help individuals over-come a fear of heights and bolster patient education. 

The company is pitching its platform as a one-stop avenue for different types of VR products to be developed and employed.

THE LARGER TREND

XRhealth has been open to collaborations in the past. In May it inked a deal with Healing Healthcare Systems where participating hospitals could gain access to XRHealth’s VRHealth platform. It has also worked with AARP’s innovation lab to launch a set of apps to look at facilitating remote monitoring and family caregiving.