Dr. Nick Peres is Director of Digital Innovation & Transformation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, where he leads the Digital Futures programme. His work focuses on developing healthcare solutions through emerging technologies including extended reality, artificial intelligence, and remote monitoring systems to address pressing clinical challenges while ensuring technological interventions remain human-centred.
As an Honorary Associate Professor (Advisor) at the University of Plymouth's Centre for Health Technology, he contributes to digital health education programmes and research initiatives that bridge theoretical frameworks with practical implementation. This academic engagement complements his role with NHS England as National Advisor for XR & Immersive Learning Technologies, where he provides expertise on the integration of immersive technologies in healthcare education and helps shape policy for technology-enhanced learning across the NHS.
His collaborative research with Transtechnology Research examines the complex relationships between technology, humanities, and healthcare practice, with particular attention to how emerging technologies can enhance rather than replace human interaction in clinical settings. This work has informed his development of several influential frameworks, including the concept of Minimal Viable Simulation (MVS), which prioritises learning objectives over technological complexity, and the exploration of boundary innovation spaces where diverse stakeholders can collaborate on healthcare solutions. His research has also advanced the field of immersive training environments, examining how these technologies can be employed to foster empathy and develop humanistic skills in healthcare professionals.
Dr. Peres's contributions to healthcare innovation have been recognised through various platforms, including parliamentary award nominations, HSJ award shortlisting, and invitations to present at TEDx, where he discussed the potential for technology to enhance compassionate care. His research and implementation projects have secured substantial funding, allowing for the development of technologies that address real clinical needs while remaining accessible and cost-effective.
Dr. Peres's contributions to healthcare innovation have been recognised through various platforms, including parliamentary award nominations, HSJ award shortlisting, and invitations to present at TEDx, where he discussed the potential for technology to enhance compassionate care. His research and implementation projects have secured substantial funding, allowing for the development of technologies that address real clinical needs while remaining accessible and cost-effective.
Throughout his work, Dr. Peres maintains a commitment to co-design principles, ensuring that technological solutions are developed with rather than for healthcare professionals and patients. This collaborative approach reflects his belief that successful digital transformation in healthcare requires engagement with all stakeholders and careful consideration of both technical capabilities and human factors
Qualifications
PhD, University of Plymouth
MA, University of Winchester
BA (hons) University of Winchester
Professional membership
Fellow, Royal Society of the Arts (FRSA)
Roles on external bodies
XR Technologies in Healthcare Advisor, UKRI
XR Technologies Advisor, Health Innovation Network
National XR Technologies SME, UK Government
Teaching
Teaching interests
I am interested exploring the intersection of digital innovation and healthcare through a humanistic lens. My teaching focuses on how immersive technologies can transform healthcare delivery while maintaining the essential human connection at its core.
My current teaching interests include:
- Digital Innovation in Healthcare: Examining how emerging technologies can address healthcare challenges through user-centred design and implementation
- Digital Literacy and Accessibility: Ensuring digital solutions are inclusive and accessible for diverse populations across healthcare settings
- Simulation and Humanistic Cognitive Response: Understanding how humans interact with and respond to visual interfaces in healthcare environments
- Boundary Spaces for Innovation: Creating collaborative environments where different disciplines can come together for effective co-design activities
- Immersive Technologies in Serious Settings: Exploring applications of virtual and extended reality for clinical training, patient education, and therapeutic interventions
Research
Research interests
My research explores the transformative potential of digital innovation in healthcare, with a focus on creating conditions from which technology, clinical expertise, and patient experience can meaningfully converge. Central to my work is the concept of boundary innovation spaces—environments where diverse stakeholders collaborate to enhance healthcare through digital innovation. Building on my experience with the Digital Futures Lab at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, I examine how these spaces function as interactive value creation centres where clinicians, patients, technologists, and designers can engage in co-creation processes that bridge clinical requirements with technological possibilities.
I'm particularly interested in the philosophy of Minimal Viable Simulation (MVS)—an approach that prioritises learning objectives over technological complexity. My research demonstrates how resource-constrained healthcare environments can foster remarkable innovation through carefully designed, low-fidelity solutions that deliver exceptional value. This includes developing in-house technologies like eye-tracking wheelchair control systems and virtual ward monitoring platforms that achieve significant cost reductions compared to commercial alternatives.
A significant strand of my research explores how virtual reality and 360° filmmaking can foster empathy and compassionate behaviour in healthcare settings. By creating immersive patient perspective experiences, my work examines how healthcare professionals can gain profound insights into conditions like delirium, anxiety, and other challenging patient experiences that traditional training methods struggle to convey.
My interest in XR technologies extends to mental health and wellbeing applications, where I support the UKRI Mindset programme. This work investigates how immersive environments can provide therapeutic interventions, reduce anxiety, and improve overall wellbeing through carefully designed experiences that leverage the unique capabilities of extended reality.
My interest in XR technologies extends to mental health and wellbeing applications, where I support the UKRI Mindset programme. This work investigates how immersive environments can provide therapeutic interventions, reduce anxiety, and improve overall wellbeing through carefully designed experiences that leverage the unique capabilities of extended reality.
Drawing from film theory and visual storytelling, I investigate how cinematic techniques can enhance clinical simulation. My work demonstrates how thoughtful camera placement, perspective, and narrative structure can transform simulation from a technical exercise into a powerful tool for developing humanistic skills. This research challenges conventional approaches to healthcare education by emphasising the emotional and interpersonal dimensions of clinical practice alongside technical competencies.
My research actively contributes to national policy and strategy development for the NHS, particularly around the design, implementation and accessibility of emerging technologies in healthcare settings. As an advisor on extended reality technologies for NHS England, I provide expertise on how these technologies can be effectively integrated into healthcare delivery while ensuring equitable access, appropriate governance frameworks, and alignment with core NHS values and priorities.
Through these interconnected research areas, I aim to develop innovative approaches that harness digital technologies to improve healthcare education, enhance clinical practice, and ultimately deliver more compassionate and effective patient care across healthcare systems.
Through these interconnected research areas, I aim to develop innovative approaches that harness digital technologies to improve healthcare education, enhance clinical practice, and ultimately deliver more compassionate and effective patient care across healthcare systems.
Publications
Journals
Galvin C., Watt J., Ghatnekar P., Peres N., Rees-Lee J.A. (2025) Local Training Program to Increase Awareness of Emerging Extended Reality Technologies Among Health Care Professionals: Development Study. JMIR XR Spatial Comput, 2. doi: 10.2196/57361
Ford, C., Peres, N., et al. (2024) Definitions of Simulation and Immersive Technologies (NHSE TEL). NHS National Learning Hub. NHS England.
Mason T., Peres N. (2021) Remote 360 virtual simulation- can you 'do sim' completely online? Archives of Disease in Childhood, 106
Nasser, M., Peres, N., Knight, J., et al. (2020) Designing clinical trials for future space missions as a pathway to changing how clinical trials are conducted on Earth. Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine, 13(2), pp.153-160.
Peres, N. (2017) Practise Portfolio: A Filmmaker in the Simulation Suite. Transtechnology Research Reader 2016/17: Tropes of Affect; Devices, Narrative and Illusion. Leonardo Open Access Journals.
Peres, N. (2015) Thoughts on a Ceiling Canvas. Transtechnology Research Reader 2014/15: Media Archaeology and Cognition. Leonardo Open Access Journals.
Books
Peres, N. (2024) Bridging the Gap: Technological Mediation and the Development of Humanistic Skills in Medical Simulation: Lessons from Covid-19 and the Impact of Immersive Media and Minimal Viable Simulation (MVS). Thesis. University of Plymouth.
Chapters
Bessant, J., Halkes, M., & Peres, N. (2024). Digital futures—enabling innovation through a boundary space. In T. Iakovleva, E.M. Oftedal, & J. Bessant (Eds.), Meeting the inclusion challenge in innovation: Giving voice to users (2nd ed.). De Gruyter.
Halkes, M., Peres, N., and Ghatnekar, P., (2023). Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Solutions for COVID-19: Use Cases from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust. In: Healthcare Innovation. Shaping Future Models of Delivery. 1st ed. World Scientific Publishing Company, pp. 133–152.
Reports
Peres, N., & Price, R. (2025) NHSE VR Accessibility Guide. National Learning Hub. NHS England.
Peres, N., (2023) Health Education England VR360 Creation Toolkit: How to Develop a Virtual Reality (VR) 360-degree Video Part 1 & 2. NHS Learning Hub. NHS England.
Bellali, J., Haines, A., Knight, J., Peres, N. and Punt, M. (2022). A CO-DESIGN SOLUTION TO DIGITAL LITERACY IN HEALTH PROVISION. Transtechnology Research Open Access Papers.
Knight, J. and Peres, N. (2018) TAaCT: Technology, Affect and Clinical Training. Transtechnology Research Open Access Papers.
Softwares
PatientVR - An App for VR headsets.
Personal
Additional information
Founder PatientVR & Digital Futures Lab (TSDFT).
Co-Chair of the national VR in Healthcare Education Community of Practise
Co-Chair of the ASPIH AI & XR SIG
Scientific Advisor to Cineon Training
Healthcare Technologies Advisor for UKRI
Links
http://www.trans-techresearch.net