2026 zSpace P og am of Disti ctio ho o ee will show how o e AR/VR ecosystem powe s mobile, K-12, a d wo kfo ce developme t healthca e t ai i g
SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — zSpace, I c. (OTC: ZSPC), a leadi g p ovide of augme ted a d vi tual eality (AR/VR) lea i g solutio s fo educatio , today a ou ced that HealthFo ce Ke tucky, its 2026 P og am of Disti ctio , will co-p ese t at the 2026 Natio al Health Scie ce Co fe e ce (NCHSE) i Bi mi gham, Alabama. The sessio will sha e how the egio al coalitio uses imme sive health scie ce educatio to build Ke tucky’s healthca e wo kfo ce ac oss th ee setti gs: mobile out each, the K-12 pipeli e, a d wo kfo ce developme t pa t e ships.
Shaw a Ki kla d, Chief Ope ati g Office of HealthFo ce Ke tucky, a d B e da Be ube, Ed.D., Di ecto of Ca ee a d Tech ical Educatio (CTE) at zSpace, will lead
HealthFo ce Ke tucky was fo med i 2022 afte the state legislatu e decla ed a eme ge cy to add ess the healthca e wo kfo ce sho tage. Ke tucky is p ojected to be sho t mo e tha 16,000 egiste ed u ses by 2030, a d 54 of its 120 cou ties a e desig ated Health P ofessio al Sho tage A eas, acco di g to figu es cited i the o ga izatio ’s 2025 A ual Repo t.
The coalitio u ites i e colleges a d u ive sities, healthca e pa t e s, a d P–12 school dist icts ac oss ce t al a d weste Ke tucky. It ope ates o a hub-a d-spoke model: a 35,000-squa e-foot I ovatio Ce te i Owe sbo o se ves as the hub, while two mobile simulatio labs ca y t ai i g i to u al commu ities.
HealthFo ce Ke tucky deploys 80 headset-f ee zSpace AR/VR Laptops ac oss its p og ams, ow eachi g 34 cou ties a d mo e tha 40 schools.
Mobile out each: zSpace laptops t avel with the HealthFo ce 1 a d HealthFo ce 2 mobile labs, givi g u al stude ts ha ds-o exposu e to healthca e ca ee s i thei ow commu ities.K-12 pipeli e: Middle a d high schools ca check out zSpace laptops o equest, b i gi g imme sive Nu si g a d Allied Health i st uctio , i cludi g A atomy & Physiology Dual C edit classes, to campuses without a dedicated lab.Wo kfo ce developme t pa t e ships: A la d-based compute lab at the I ovatio Ce te a cho s t ai i g fo adult lea e s, a d Ke tucky wo kfo ce developme t pa t e s ca check out laptops to delive imme sive healthca e t ai i g at thei ow sites.
“HealthFo ce Ke tucky is p oudly co t ibuti g i a mea i gful way to accele ati g stude ts’ fi di g healthca e ca ee paths. We a e doi g this by b i gi g o e-of-a-ki d esou ces to them, meeti g them whe e they a e. Usi g o e flexible platfo m ac oss ou t ucks, customized befo e each deployme t to meet the eeds of the school o equeste , we a e e su i g eve y lea e eceives a solid lea i g fou datio , o matte whe e they live, a d we a e delive i g educatio al esou ces to teache s a d faculty that they do ‘t have to select, buy a d mai tai ,” said Shaw a Ki kla d, Chief Ope ati g Office of HealthFo ce Ke tucky.
Si ce lau chi g i late 2023, HealthFo ce Ke tucky has e gaged 22,727 pa ticipa ts th ough 542 eve ts a d delive ed mo e tha 341,000 lea e co tact hou s. Pa t e i stitutio s ac oss the egio have epo ted a 17% i c ease i healthca e p og am applicatio s a d a 6% ise i e ollme t. I stude t su veys, 94% said the mobile labs gave them a deepe u de sta di g of healthca e p ofessio s.
That impact ea ed HealthFo ce Ke tucky the i augu al zSpace P og am of Disti ctio i Ju e 2026, ecog izi g impleme tatio s that demo st ate measu able stude t impact, i st uctio al i ovatio , a d a scalable visio fo ha ds-o lea i g.
“HealthFo ce Ke tucky has show that imme sive lea i g scales whe it follows the lea e , f om a mobile lab i a u al cou ty to a wo kfo ce t ai i g site. We’ e p oud to sha e the stage so othe states ca put this model to wo k,” said Paul Kelle be ge , CEO of zSpace.
The 2026 Natio al Health Scie ce Co fe e ce takes place Octobe 19 to 22 i Bi mi gham, Alabama. Atte dees ca joi Sessio 8 i Room East N at the Bi mi gham–Jeffe so Co ve tio Complex a d visit zSpace at Booth 33 fo ha ds-o demo st atio s of headset-f ee AR/VR health scie ce applicatio s. To lea mo e, visit zspace.com.
zSpace, I c. (OTC: ZSPC) delive s i ovative augme ted a d vi tual eality (AR/VR) expe ie ces that d ive achieveme t i STEM, CTE, a d ca ee eadi ess p og ams. T usted by ove 3,500 school dist icts, tech ical ce te s, commu ity colleges, a d u ive sities, zSpace e ables ha ds-o “lea i g by doi g” expe ie ces p ove to imp ove e gageme t a d stude t outcomes. Headqua te ed i Sa Jose, Califo ia, zSpace holds mo e tha 80 pate ts, with esea ch published i the Jou al of Compute Assisted Lea i g (2021) validati g the impact of 3D vi tual eality tech ologies o stude t k owledge gai s.
Photos accompa yi g this a ou ceme t a e available athttps://www.globe ewswi e.com/NewsRoom/Attachme tNg/bfe7b8cc-b22e-4103-ba4e-5246e7addfd7https://www.globe ewswi e.com/NewsRoom/Attachme tNg/dc400d7b-6166-4465-bdd2-e44abcb01faahttps://www.globe ewswi e.com/NewsRoom/Attachme tNg/01fa0a69-c31c-4403-8e93-cab23d152859
CONTACT: P ess Co tact:
Ama da Austi
Se io Ma keti g Di ecto , zSpace, I c.
p ess@zspace.com
