A Gamified Virtual Reality Escape Room as a Tool for Teaching Cardiac Anatomy: A Feasibility Study

Gamification, defined as the application of game elements in non-gaming contexts, has emerged as a promising tool for enhancing student engagement in content-heavy curriculums such as anatomy and physiology. This preliminary study describes the development of a virtual reality (VR) cardiac anatomy escape room and provides initial data on student engagement and confidence with learning objectives. Participants were recruited from Colorado State University following completion of a cadaveric anatomy course. The heart-themed escape room was developed using Unity 6000.1.7f1 and deployed on Meta Quest 3 headsets, featuring seven puzzle stations that generated cardiac structures upon successful completion. Players then assembled a complete heart model within a set time. Results showed high engagement and accomplishment, with students reporting improved understanding of visualizing cardiac structures and enjoyment in testing anatomical knowledge. All participants reported that they felt confident with the content following completion of the escape room. While VR has been successfully incorporated into curricula, VR escape rooms have the potential to serve as an engaging and fun supplementary learning tool for students. These findings suggest that virtual reality implementation can enhance anatomy education through immersive gamified learning environments.