This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional with any health-related questions.

When was the last time you described microbiology as “fun”? Particularly if you were required to study it?

MedMicroMaps Founder/CEO Dr. Jane Harrington may well change your perspective.

“Biology is fascinating, if you get to play with it; if you get to see it in real time,” she says.

Science is a subject Dr. Jane has loved since she was a child. And her background in teaching microbiology at the university level, as well as visiting K-12 schools, led her to realize the challenge of sharing that passion with students.

“How can you learn something you can’t see, and you can’t touch it?” she asks.

Microbiology gets playful

Accordingly, she has created a virtual-reality application, based on real science, that puts a “face” on a bacteria phage, and allows visitors to touch microbes and learn more about them. This is a game in which players get to solve a mystery!

Best of all, her application includes customization to the individual learner. Her mascot, Phage.i, is a bacteria phage which guides users through the experience. He’s AI-assisted to begin at a learner’s starting point, for microbiology, and help them “grow” from there.

And, he’s designed to be fun.

Phage.i, in fact, is a whimsical character with a high voice, which tends to take the “intimidation” factor out of learning microbiology. Dr. Jane says upon seeing him, most people comment on his “cuteness”!

And of course, like any other game, accomplishing missions becomes gradually more challenging as people play. The first edition of the game, Dr. Jane says, will be for the general population. Then, in Spring of 2026, the enterprise version will be released, designed for use in schools, allowing for learning from the undergraduate to graduate level.

Expanding the learning opportunities

The alpha version of the game will be available, free, for Meta Quest in May, 2025. However, that’s only of the ways MedMicroMaps will be taking the “intimidaton” factor out of learning microbiology.

Central to the system is something brand-new and innovative.

This is a compass, which shows microbes, in color, grouped by type in the various directions. It allows learners to literally touch them in virtual reality, and identify them by their color. These visual elements– especially the colors in which the microbes are shown–tend to make learning about them almost intuitive.

And Dr. Jane envisions her game and applications, including an augmented-reality phone app scheduled for release this fall, as being for everyone, as opposed to targeting users who are science, and biology-oriented. Taking the relatability a step further: when she meets people to talk about her creations, she distributes stickers and keychains, featuring Phage.i!

“I will do anything, as an educator, to meet the learner where they are,” she says.

Dr. Jane talked about creating MedMicroMaps, explained how her game works and offered a closer look at her compass, designed to revolutionize the ways students learn about microbes!

On this edition of Over Coffee® we cover:

• Dr. Jane’s background and why she loves science;

• How she’s using anthropomorphism to make microbiology less intimidating and more easily accessible;

• An imaginary exploration of her game, “Genesis”, and how Phage.i guides users through the first storyline of a mission-based game.

• How the”compass” system, which guides players through the game to learn about different types of microbes, works;

• The creative process behind MedMicroMaps;

• How to get the game (it’s invite-only on Spatial, and scheduled for release for Oculus Quest, for free, in May!);

• A closer look at the upcoming releases;

• How WebXR works for this;

• The relation of hands-on and curiosity to learning engagement, as opposed to the “stress” of learning science in upper grades;

• The research behind MedMicroMaps;

• What Dr. Jane has enjoyed most, about bringing the “fun” elements to learning microbiology through MedMicroMaps;

• Additional ways Dr. Jane is making the microbe world accessible and interesting to the general public;

• A patented mathematical model she and her husband have created, that makes learning microbiology tactile and visual;

• How our current higher-education system prompted Dr. Jane to create MedMicroMaps.

• What’s coming up next–including campus tours and a MedMicroMaps tour in the fall!