Toggle search
Toggle menu
5.1K
5.9K
229
50.6K
VR & AR Wiki
Toggle preferences menu
Toggle personal menu
Not logged in
Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits.

Fundamental XR

From VR & AR Wiki
More actions
Fundamental XR
Information
Industry Medical simulation, virtual reality, haptics
Founded 2015
Founder Richard Vincent, Chris Scattergood
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Notable Personnel Richard Vincent (co-founder and CEO)
Products Fundamental Surgery, HapticVR, Fundamental Touch
Website https://www.fundamentalxr.com


Fundamental XR (stylized fundamental XR, known until July 2025 as FundamentalVR) is a London-based company that makes virtual reality and haptic simulation software for training surgeons and other medical staff.[1][2] Its main product, Fundamental Surgery, is a software-as-a-service platform launched in the United States in August 2018. It runs on standard VR headsets and PCs, and in its HapticVR mode it uses off-the-shelf haptic arm devices to give force feedback that lets trainees feel tools, bone and soft tissue during simulated procedures.[3][4]

The company was started in 2015 by Richard Vincent and Chris Scattergood.[5] Its core customers are life sciences, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, which use the platform to train surgeons and nurses on their products; it also works directly with hospitals.[6][5] In July 2025 it renamed itself fundamental XR, saying that "VR" no longer described a product range that also covered mixed reality, augmented reality, haptics, AI and web-based training.[1]

Reviewed 13 October 2026. Rebrand release, founders and founding account, Companies House entity and Tern RNS, 2018 US launch and pricing, Mayo Clinic agreement, TIME listing, HaptX demo, 2019 and 2022 funding, @HomeVR, Haply partnership, Frost & Sullivan report, Orbis simulator, Fundamental Touch, company news posts, and the Gani 2022 and Kley 2025 papers. About review dates.

History

Founding and launch (2015-2018)

In a 2024 interview, Vincent said that he and Scattergood started the company as a two-person team in 2015. After looking for the strongest use case for immersive technology, they settled on surgical education and concluded that a useful simulator needed touch feedback "good enough to enable skills transferability".[5] The founders bootstrapped for about a year and took their first outside investment around mid-2016.[5] The legal entity behind the company is FVRVS Limited, registered in England and Wales; it was incorporated on 9 September 2010 as Beaver Communications Limited and took its current name on 7 February 2018.[7][8] The London-based investment company Tern Plc was an early shareholder.[9]

FundamentalVR launched Fundamental Surgery in the United States in August 2018. It described the product as a SaaS platform that combines VR with haptics and runs on a modern PC or laptop, a standard VR headset and two widely available haptic arm devices, instead of a dedicated simulator rig. The first US procedures were orthopaedic: spinal pedicle screw placement, posterior hip replacement and total knee arthroplasty. The company said more than 500 surgeons had tested the platform and quoted introductory pricing from US$350 a month.[3] Its haptics were driven by what it called the Surgical Haptic Intelligence Engine, which uses tool and tissue settings calibrated with surgeons.[3]

On 30 October 2018 the company announced a three-year strategic alliance and joint development agreement with Mayo Clinic. Fundamental Surgery was already running in Mayo's simulation centres in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota, and the two planned to develop new simulations starting with general surgery, with robotic and patient-specific simulations (built from DICOM imaging data) as later phases.[9][10] Tern invested a further US$1.4 million (1.1 million pounds) at the same time, raising its stake from 18.3 percent to 34.7 percent.[9] In November 2018 TIME included Fundamental Surgery in its list of the best inventions of 2018. CEO Richard Vincent told the magazine that existing VR surgical simulators had a basic limit: "You can't touch the environment in a meaningful way."[11]

Glove haptics and Series A (2019)

At the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting in March 2019, FundamentalVR showed Fundamental Surgery working with HaptX Gloves, the exoskeleton-style force-feedback gloves from HaptX. In the demonstration of an anterior total hip arthroplasty, the user felt for a ligament around the hip socket with the gloved hand and held a tool on a robotic haptic arm in the other. UploadVR noted that the HaptX glove was still an early development kit and that the company had not said when glove support would reach customers.[12]

In October 2019 the company closed a 4.3 million pound (about US$5.6 million) Series A round led by Downing Ventures, with Epic Private Equity and Brighteyes Ventures. Mayo Clinic and the German hospital group Sana Kliniken also invested.[13][14] Tech.eu reported a post-money valuation of 11.3 million pounds, and the company put its total funding at US$9.3 million. Road to VR reported that the platform was then in use at institutions in seven countries, including Mayo Clinic, UCLA, University College London Hospitals and Sana.[13][14] Tech.eu also reported that the platform had won an Interactive Innovation Award at SXSW in 2019.[13]

Standalone headsets, pharma work and Series B (2020-2024)

On 1 April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, FundamentalVR added @HomeVR, a mode that runs its simulations on standalone headsets, the Oculus Quest and HTC Vive Focus Plus. It covered the same procedures as the haptic version but without force feedback, and it was sold to medical institutions instead of through the Oculus Store.[15] Halldale Group reported in 2023 that NYU Langone had used @HomeVR to run its annual assessments remotely instead of on site.[16]

Over this period the customer base shifted toward life sciences companies. MedCity News reported in 2022 that customers included Mayo Clinic, NYU Langone, UCLA Health, Teleflex and Novartis, and that Novartis had used a haptic simulation of an injection procedure linked to the launch of a gene therapy.[4] Halldale Group reported in 2023 that the Novartis simulation rehearsed sub-retinal injection of an ocular gene therapy and was deployed in 25 countries.[16] A 2026 company post describes a two-person HapticVR simulation of subretinal delivery for the gene therapy Luxturna, deployed in more than 25 countries.[17]

On 11 August 2022 FundamentalVR announced a US$20 million Series B led by EQT Life Sciences, with Downing Ventures, Tern and Sana Kliniken also taking part, bringing its total funding to more than US$30 million. The company said the platform was deployed in more than 30 countries and covered orthopaedics, ophthalmology, urology and endovascular surgery. MedCity News named Medical Realities, ImmersiveTouch and Osso VR as competitors; Vincent said Osso VR was the most similar company but had no "like-for-like competitor".[4]

In April 2023 FundamentalVR announced a partnership with Haply Robotics to use Haply's haptic controllers, including the Inverse3, to cover procedures that need what the announcement called "high fidelity reach".[18] Frost & Sullivan gave the company its 2023 Global Company of the Year award in the VR surgical simulation and training industry.[6] By March 2024 the company reported about 135 full-time employees and a 30-person medical panel, and said it had expanded from orthopaedics into cardiovascular, robotic surgery, urology and neurology procedures.[5]

With Orbis International, the company co-developed a haptic VR simulator for manual small-incision cataract surgery (MSICS) aimed at training in low- and middle-income countries. Orbis launched it in 2024 after testing a prototype at centres in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Mongolia, the United Kingdom and the United States.[19]

Rebrand as fundamental XR (2025-present)

On 30 July 2025 FundamentalVR announced its new name, fundamental XR, with a new logo and visual identity. Vincent said: "VR has been foundational to our platform, but a decade on, it's too narrow to describe what we do." The company said it had delivered more than 50,000 immersive training sessions in more than 30 countries since 2015.[1]

On 9 October 2025 the company launched Fundamental Touch, a device-agnostic software platform that takes its haptics work outside medicine. The haptic engine runs on a separate haptic server (a single-board computer or embedded device wired to gloves, arms, pens or suits) and exchanges data wirelessly with headsets, robots or gaming peripherals, so a standalone headset no longer has to be tethered to a desktop PC for force feedback. The company claimed latency under 100 ms and named Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest headsets and the Boston Dynamics Spot robot among supported clients.[20]

In December 2025 the company said that the Orbis cataract programme had won a Gold award for best AR/VR solution in Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Awards.[21] In February 2026 it introduced Immersive Web, browser-based procedural simulations meant to be used before trainees move on to VR.[22] A July 2026 company post said the Orbis programme connected 22 partner institutions in Africa, Asia and South America.[23] As of October 2026 FVRVS Limited is listed as active at Companies House, and the company's website gives its address as 60 Grays Inn Road, London.[8][2]

Products

Fundamental Surgery is delivered in several modes, which Frost & Sullivan's 2023 report names HapticVR, StandaloneVR and CollaborationVR. StandaloneVR runs on an ordinary headset with its controllers and teaches the procedure but not necessarily the physical skill; the report calls it better suited to sales and marketing. HapticVR adds kinesthetic force feedback through haptic devices and is the mode intended for surgeons learning the physical skill. CollaborationVR puts up to 50 people in one virtual operating room. The report describes the platform as hardware-agnostic, supporting mainstream headsets and most mainstream haptic devices.[6]

Product or mode Introduced Description
Fundamental Surgery (HapticVR) August 2018 (US launch) PC-based VR surgical simulation with two haptic arm devices; first procedures in orthopaedics[3]
@HomeVR 1 April 2020 Simulations on Oculus Quest and HTC Vive Focus Plus without force feedback[15][6]
CollaborationVR By 2023 Multi-user sessions with up to 50 people in one virtual location[6]
Fundamental Core By 2024 Unity-based SDK and toolkit with haptics, activity-building tools, security and data analytics[5]
Fundamental Touch 9 October 2025 Wireless haptics platform for uses outside medicine, with a separate haptic server[20]
Immersive Web February 2026 Browser-based procedural simulations used alongside VR training[22]

Funding

Date Round Amount Investors
October 2018 Follow-on investment US$1.4 million (1.1 million pounds) Tern Plc[9]
October 2019 Series A 4.3 million pounds (about US$5.6 million) Downing Ventures (lead), Epic Private Equity, Brighteyes Ventures, Tern, Mayo Clinic, Sana Kliniken[13][14]
August 2022 Series B US$20 million EQT Life Sciences (lead), Downing Ventures, Tern, Sana Kliniken[4]

XR work

The company's argument from the start has been that a surgical simulator needs touch as well as visuals, and that this can be done with consumer VR headsets and commercial haptic devices instead of dedicated simulators. Its launch material contrasted this with simulators it said cost more than US$100,000.[3] In MedCity News, Vincent described the platform as combining cutaneous (tactile) and kinesthetic (force and body position) haptic feedback, and said that "the addition of full force haptics now allows for the acquisition of skills."[4] Over time the platform has added hand-worn haptics (haptic gloves from HaptX), larger-reach haptic arms from Haply, standalone headsets and, with Fundamental Touch, wireless haptics for standalone XR devices.[12][18][15][20]

The HapticVR simulator has been used in published studies. In a double-blinded randomised controlled trial at St George's Hospital, London, 31 junior surgical trainees practised drilling holes in a virtual tibia on an Oculus Rift with either GeoMagic haptic controllers from 3D Systems or the standard Rift controllers, then repeated the task on a Sawbones model. The haptic group plunged the drill less far past the bone (7.6 mm versus 13.6 mm on average) and scored higher on the OSATS skills rating, but took longer to drill. FundamentalVR supplied the simulator, and two of the authors had received consulting fees from the company.[24] A 2025 single-centre study in Switzerland had 17 orthopaedic residents do five weekly sessions of simulated total knee arthroplasty on the Fundamental Surgery HapticVR simulator. The share of steps passed rose from 58 percent to 69 percent and time per step fell from 62.6 to 39.8 seconds. The study had no control group, and participants were divided on whether the simulation felt realistic.[25]

According to Frost & Sullivan's 2023 report, Fundamental Surgery was accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation - and Launching the Future with fundamental XR". PR Newswire. fundamental XR. 2025-07-30. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celebrating-10-years-of-innovation--and-launching-the-future-with-fundamental-xr-302516893.html. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Fundamental XR - Immersive technology to accelerate human excellence". Fundamental XR. https://www.fundamentalxr.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Halldale Industry Reporter (2018-08-17). "Fundamental Surgery launches in the US". Halldale Group. https://www.halldale.com/safety-critical-industries/13652-fundamental-surgery-launches-in-the-us. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Katie Adams (2022-08-11). "FundamentalVR rakes in $20M for its VR, haptics platform". MedCity News. https://medcitynews.com/2022/08/fundamentalvr-rakes-in-20m-for-its-vr-haptics-platform/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Harry Fowle (2024-03-20). "FundamentalVR: accelerating the fundamentals of surgical training". Startups Magazine. https://startupsmagazine.co.uk/?p=13669. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "FundamentalVR Receives the 2023 Global Company of the Year Award". Frost & Sullivan. 2023. https://www.frost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-Award-Write-Up-FundamentalVR.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  7. ↑ "FundamentalVR Fund Raise". Investegate. Tern Plc. 2022-05-31. https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/tern--tern/fundamentalvr-fund-raise/7074576. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "FVRVS LIMITED overview (company number 07370553)". Companies House. UK Government. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07370553. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Erin Dietsche (2018-10-30). "FundamentalVR unveils alliance with Mayo Clinic and $1.4M in funding". MedCity News. https://medcitynews.com/2018/10/fundamentalvr-mayo-clinic/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  10. ↑ "Mayo Clinic becomes first U.S. institution to train surgeons with Fundamental Surgery VR haptic simulations". Healthcare Innovation. 2018-10-30. https://www.hcinnovationgroup.com/home/article/13011124/mayo-clinic-becomes-first-us-institution-to-train-surgeons-with-fundamental-surgery-vr-haptic-simulations. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  11. ↑ Jamie Ducharme (2018-11-15). "Smarter Training for Surgeons: The 50 Best Inventions of 2018". TIME. https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2018/5454468/fundamental-surgery/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jamie Feltham (2019-03-14). "FundamentalVR Combines With HaptX Glove For Even More Realistic Surgical Training". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/fundamentalvr-combines-with-haptx-glove-for-even-more-realistic-surgical-training/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Annie Musgrove (2019-10-30). "FundamentalVR raises 4.3 million to develop 'flight simulator for surgeons', backed by Mayo Clinic". Tech.eu. https://tech.eu/2019/10/30/fundamentalvr-raises-4-3-million-to-develop-flight-simulator-for-surgeons-backed-by-mayo-clinic/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Scott Hayden (2019-10-31). "FundamentalVR Raises $5.6M Investment to Further Develop VR Surgery Training Tools". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/fundamental-vr-investment-surgery-training/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Jamie Feltham (2020-04-01). "FundamentalVR Brings Its Professional Surgical Training Platform Home With Quest Support". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/fundamentalvr-quest-support/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Marty Kauchak (2023-06-07). "On the Record: Richard Vincent, CEO and Co-founder, FundamentalVR". Halldale Group. https://www.halldale.com/safety-critical-industries/18265-sct-on-the-record-richard-vincent-ceo-and-co-founder-fundamentalvr. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  17. ↑ "From Breakthrough Science to Surgical Readiness". Fundamental XR. 2026-05-05. https://www.fundamentalxr.com/news/from-breakthrough-science-to-surgical-readiness. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "FundamentalVR Announces Partnership with Leading Robotics Expert Haply Robotics". International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association. 2023-04-05. https://ivrha.org/fundamentalvr-announces-partnership-with-leading-robotics-expert-haply-robotics/. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  19. ↑ Cheryl Guttman Krader (2024-12-02). "Training to Target Global Cataract Blindness". EuroTimes. European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons. https://escrs.org/channels/eurotimes-articles/training-to-target-global-cataract-blindness. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Fundamental XR Launches Fundamental Touch: Expanding Proven Wireless Haptics Beyond Medicine". Training Industry. Fundamental XR. 2025-10-09. https://trainingindustry.com/press-release/learning-technologies/fundamental-xr-launches-fundamental-touch-expanding-proven-wireless-haptics-beyond-medicine. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  21. ↑ "Orbis International and Fundamental XR Win Gold at Brandon Hall Group's Excellence in Technology Awards". Fundamental XR. 2025-12-15. https://www.fundamentalxr.com/news/orbis-international-and-fundamental-xr-win-gold-at-brandon-hall-group-s-excellence-in-technology-awards. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Immersive Web & the Next Wave of Training". Fundamental XR. 2026-02-05. https://www.fundamentalxr.com/news/immersive-web-the-next-wave-of-training. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  23. ↑ Hannah Saimbi (2026-07-29). "What Happens When Surgeons Can Fail Safely First". Fundamental XR. https://www.fundamentalxr.com/news/what-happens-when-surgeons-can-fail-safely-first. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  24. ↑ A. Gani, O. Pickering, C. Ellis, O. Sabri, P. Pucher (2022). "Impact of haptic feedback on surgical training outcomes: A Randomised Controlled Trial of haptic versus non-haptic immersive virtual reality training". Annals of Medicine and Surgery, vol. 83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2022.104734. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
  25. ↑ V. Kley, S. Chelli, G. Avram, F. Amsler, A. Leica, R. Elsheikh, M. T. Hirschmann, M. Koch (2025). "Virtual reality simulation improves performance metrics in total knee arthroplasty training: A single-centre longitudinal study". Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics, vol. 12, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeo2.70538. Retrieved 2026-10-13.
Retrieved from "https://vrarwiki.com/index.php?title=Fundamental_XR&oldid=50128"