by Dot Cannon
As Valentine’s Day approaches, what are the “loves” of your life?
In all probability, you might answer that question with types of music, activities, certain movies, perhaps favorite foods.
And again, in all probability–you didn’t say “microbiology”.
But MedMicroMaps Founder/CEO Dr. Jane Harrington is working to change that.
“It’s my lifelong mission to show the world how cute my beloved microbes are,” she writes, on LinkedIn.
Dr. Jane is currently releasing MicrobeXR, a NSF-funded game for STEAM education. And on Monday, February 2nd, at 4 pm Mountain time (or 3 pm, Pacific), she’d like to invite you to a LinkedIn Live event, showcasing the new game!
Pivoting to STEAM
After the 2025 release of her MedMicroMaps alpha (discussed here in our April, 2025 interview), Dr. Jane and her husband/MedMicroMaps co-founder, Ian Holyoak, came to a realization.
“We have realized that the “human capacity” gap starts in high school,” Dr. Jane emails.
“Traditional 2D science education is failing 2 out of 3 learners before they even finish high school.”
The problem, she continues, is multipronged. “Flat textbooks” can fail to engage students’ imagination, while those with reading disabilities may struggle with multiple-choice tests and conclude that they’re “not smart enough” to learn the science.
Accordingly, MicrobeXR has pivoted to focus on STEAM. The game is geared to learners ages 13 and up.
And Dr. Jane and Ian plan to visit every high school, college and after-school program in Colorado in 2026, introducing students to “cute” microbes and the fun of learning, hands-on, through XR.
The experience
So, what will the immersive learners get to do, in MicrobeXR?
For starters, according to Dr. Jane’s email, they can take a “Magic School Bus” to a tonsil.
Once there, their job is to battle bacteria–after shrinking to the size of viruses.
And it’s designed to be user-friendly: optimized for hand-tracking, no controllers required.
We can’t wait to find out more.