Builder Spotlight: California State University, Long Beach
Reimagining Medical Pedagogy
At California State University – Long Beach, the Anthropology Department is reimagining how traditional Chinese medicine is taught in undergraduate education. In a forward-thinking partnership, Department Chair Dr. Scott Wilson and Instructional Designer Yovanna Cifuentes-Goodbody collaborated with Curio to develop an immersive educational experience centered on acupuncture—a discipline often taught through texts and diagrams, but rarely explored in an embodied, spatial way.
The project aims to introduce students to the foundational concepts of acupuncture, specifically the system of meridians that define energy flow within the body. Built using Curio’s platform, the module allows students to engage with a high-resolution, 3D anatomical model, navigating the body’s energy pathways in an interactive environment. Students are tasked with identifying and tagging key meridians, providing an active learning experience that blends visual-spatial understanding with cultural context.
Pedagogical Rationale for XR
The decision to use extended reality for this module stemmed from a shared belief that experiential learning could deepen student comprehension of unfamiliar concepts—especially those rooted in cultural systems not typically part of Western scientific curricula. By placing students inside the body, so to speak, the module invites them to move through acupuncture’s theoretical landscape in a direct and embodied way.
This project represents more than just an educational innovation; it’s an example of how academic departments can leverage XR technology to translate abstract knowledge into memorable, hands-on experiences. Once released, the module will be available to all Curio users and maintained by Curio’s development team.
