The University of California in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneer Portfolio have been working on a fantastic health games site this year for their national program Health Games Research.  Health Games Research funds research to advance the innovation and effectiveness of digital games and game technologies to improve health.

Just recently they launched the bulk of their website content in the form of a database, the Health Games Research Database, which has been getting quite a bit of attention these last few days.  Why?  Because it’s the largest database of health games and related conferences, organizations, publications, and resources to date.  As of today they boast:

• 74 Conferences and Events
• 337 Games
• 526 Organizations
• 398 Publications
• 125 Resources

The interview.

When I asked Dr. Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research and communication researcher at the University of California Santa Barbara about the undertaking, here’s what she had to say.

HG: Why did you decide to create this massive health games database?

DL: We decided to create the Health Games Research Database because there are so many people who are looking for information about health games and related research.  For example, for the past 15 years I have received at least 40 or 50 requests per month from people who want to talk with me to learn more about research, publications, behavioral health strategies, design, development, publishing, marketing, people, events, game titles, funding opportunities,and business ventures related to health games.  It is impossible to respond to all the requests and also get my own work done, and the number of requests has been increasing as the field continues to grow. I wanted to develop the database so I could point people to a dynamic resource they could explore to find the information they need.

HG: How many people did it take to make this database a reality?

DL: The information in the database was gathered and organized by the Health Games Research staff with the help of 10 student assistants at the University of California, Santa Barbara.  I especially want to thank our team’s project manager for the database, Erica Biely, and the deputy director at Health Games Research, Maria Chesley Fisk, for their diligent work and valuable ideas.  Erica has been the driving force of this project and we appreciate her many contributions.

HG: I assume aggregating all of this information was costly due to the number of staff required.  What was your major source of funding?

DL: We are very grateful to the Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, led by Pioneer team leader and senior program officer Paul Tarini, for their financial and collegial support for this project.

HG: As we all know, most of the information on health games is pretty scattered.  Can people make suggestions for additions to the database that may have been missed?

DL: We welcome community input to the database.  It has a Recommendation Form where people can suggest new content or revisions to existing content.  There are now more than 1,200 items in the database and we plan to add a lot more, and we would like to hear from our colleagues in a variety of fields who have more items to suggest.

HG: What an amazing accomplishment–congratulations!  How does it feel now that the database is complete?

DL: The three of us are very excited to have the database to use ourselves and to share with our colleagues in the wide-ranging health games field. My hope is that the database will spark new ideas and collaborations in the field that will help it grow in constructive and exciting directions.

A special healthGAMERS thanks.

On a personal note, I just wanted to extend my gratitude to Dr. Lieberman for answering my questions about their exciting database. As you can imagine, Dr. Lieberman is an extremely busy individual, but she always takes the time to respond, regardless of how small or large the request. The Health Games Research team was also kind enough to list our little blog on their resources page from the very beginning which has really assisted us in creating a dynamic, diverse reading audience.  Thank you so much Dr. Lieberman and team!

The Games for Health Conference will be holding its sixth meeting this year at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston, and the schedule is finally out.  The traditional two-day conference will offer over 40 sessions with 60 speakers and will cover a wide range of topics including exergaming, health behavior change, biofeedback, rehabilitation, physical therapy, disease management, epidemiology, medical training, cognitive and emotional health, nutrition and health education.

What really makes this year’s conference exciting is the addition of several co-located pre-conferences, including the first ever Mobile Serious Games Day.  These five days of health game events have been dubbed Games Beyond Entertainment Week.  Here’s what to expect for Games Beyond Entertainment Week.

Serious Games Day: Monday May 24, 2010

Games Beyond Entertainment Week 2010 kicks off with Serious Games Day. The Serious Games Initiative, with support from the Federation of American Scientists and other partners present this event in which leading serious game projects and research will be showcased to assist developers, sponsors, and partners operating in the serious games field.  The evening will be wrapped up with the Serious Games Festival.

1st Annual Mobile Serious Games Day: Tuesday May 25, 2010

Out & About is the first ever event dedicated to the creation and distribution of serious games on mobile platforms.  From ARGs, to pedometer powered adventures, Out & About will bring you up-to-speed on this exciting new area of the serious games field.  The conference will feature a mobile games gallery and two tracks to choose from: pioneering projects and mobile games for health and healthcare.

3rd Annual Games Accessibility Day: Tuesday May 25, 2010

Games Accessibility Day explores every aspect of making and creating accessible games specifically for people with lifelong, chronic, and temporary disabilities.  This conference included demos of existing accessible games as well as lectures and networking opportunities dedicated to making all games more accessible, and helping people with disabilities play their way to better health and wellness.

3rd Annual Virtual Worlds and Health Day: Tuesday May 25, 2010

Virtual Worlds and Health Day explores the entire spectrum of opportunities and happenings related to health, healthcare, multiplayer games, and social virtual worlds.   Be prepared to learn about massive multiplayer games and social virtual worlds and including WhyVille, Second Life, and Habbo Hotel.

Emerging Markets in Videogames Symposium: Tuesday May 25th, 2010

This single track conference will cover highly emergent efforts in commercial entertainment and non-traditional sectors. The goal of the Emerging Markets Symposium is to create a place for understanding new opportunities in games as well as provide a forum for discussion of how such innovative areas can be created and nurtured long-term.  Tuesday will conclude with an evening at the IDGA Boston games showcase and reception.

6th Annual Games for Health Conference: Wednesday May 26th and Thursday May 27th, 2010

The sixth annual Games for Health Conference will be held at the Hyatt Harborside Hotel in Boston from May 25 to 27.  Building on the success of previous years, the 2010 conference promises to provide even more insight around the use of interactive video games advancing heath and health care through exergaming, active games, health training games, disease management efforts and more.  Wednesday evening also includes a GFH reception and afterplay event.

International Leadership Breakfast: Friday May 28th, 2010

Conclude your serious games week by connecting with international networkers and leaders at the International Leadership Breakfast. The goal of this event is to foster stronger cross-border collaboration, project, and business development.

Registering for the conferences.

This line up is sure to attract healthgamers from all over the world.  Last year’s Games for Health Conference sold out early so the Games for Health Project recommends you register as soon as possible.  For complete information about this and the rest of the week, visit www.gamesforhealth.org and www.gamesbeyondentertainment.com.  To download a complete brochure suitable for forwarding to colleagues, visit http://www.gamesforhealth.org/brochure.pdf.

Basics of the contest [from the page]:

The Wii Mommies are looking for individuals who are unfamiliar with the Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit Plus to participate in our Citizen Journalist Program to analyze specific elements of the Wii Fit Plus and submit weekly reports on their findings over a period of three weeks. You do not have to be a parent or female to apply, all are welcome.

Here at healthGAMERS, we’re super excited to see the results of the program and the feedback that the various citizen journalists come up with in their reports. The purpose of this health games movement is to make sure people get real experiences and this is a perfect way to get that done. The more people who realize that there are healthy and fun activities out there, the more we can continue spreading the word.

Applications close on March 5th so head on over there and apply if you’re interested! Also don’t forget to follow Wii Mommies on Twitter.

We just heard from Ben Sawyer that the Games for Health Project will be hosting a free, informative half-day session in New York City!  This is an amazing opportunity for anyone interested in advancing the role of videogames in health and healthcare or is just curious about the field.  If you want to show off your work, presenters are still needed so shoot Ben an email bsawyer[at]dmill[dot]com.  If you want to attend the event, simply RSVP to Beth Bryant at bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com.

The details.

• Date: January 26, 2010
• Time: 9:00 am – 1:00 pm
• Location: Hunter College Brookdale Campus, Room @323, 425 E 25th Street, NY, New York
• Cost: FREE
• RSVP: RSVP is REQUIRED to Beth Bryant bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com
• Topics:
  • Anti-smoking games
  • Wii games for burn patient rehab
  • Nutrition and healthy eating projects
• Other great stuff:
  • Networking opportunities with researchers, game developers and students
  • Get exclusive discounts to other events including the Games for Health Conference & Games Beyond Entertainment Week

Your to-do list.

• RSVP is required for this event so email Beth Bryant is required bbryant[at]dmill[dot]com if you plan to attend.
• Speakers are still needed so email Ben Sawyer if you wish to show off your work bsawyer[at]dmill[dot]com.

This event is made possible by support from the Robert Wood Johnson Pioneer Portfolio and the Hunter College Department of Physical Therapy.  View the official flyer for more information!

A Humana press release this morning revealed the three winners of the InsertCoin Game Idea Competition which began last summer.  The goal of the competition was to establish what gamers are looking for in health games and ultimately create better health games for consumers.  Prizes of $5K, $3K and $2K were given to first, second and third place winners respectively.

And the winners are…

Many entered, but only three ideas made the cut.  Here are the lucky winners:

1. Shelly Warmuth of Green Bay, Wisconsin for her idea “Dance Class” where players are taught to dance by virtual dance instructor avatars.
2. John Green of Brooklyn, New York for his idea “Camp Awesome,” a summer camp simulator where players get the full action-packed experience of a camp.
3. Kevin Ray for his idea “Jungle Mayhem,” an activity and social based game.

Everyone at healthGAMERS sends a huge “Congratulations!” to the three winners for their accomplishments.  We look forward to seeing these games produced.  For more information, see the official Humana Games for Health InsertCoin press release.

As a matter of fact, Interaction Healthcare, a French Health communication agency has recently announced it will promote and distribute Pulse ! the multi-million dollar cutting edge 3D medical and clinical training professional healthgame developed by Texas A&M University and Breakawaygames.com. This French agency was known for its on-line game “Don’t kid with their eyes” dedicated to vision for the young public and developed with the eye-glass world leader Essilor. Europe is also developing complementary solutions like “Patient Rescue” a UK National Health System supported game or the Spanish Medical Simulator.

North Europe countries have also entered in the game field like in Sweden where the University of Skövde has co-developed Elinor, a game based tool for rehabilitation of stroke patients. Interestingly, this University has launched this year the first European Master Degree in Serious games.

At the European Community level, some effort has been put on ehealth. However, there are few projects dedicated to health games. It is interesting to point out this multi-national initiative eldergames.org where experts from Spain, UK and Norway collaborate to create a video play platform connected to internet to monitor cognitive health and welfare in the growing elder population.

I believe 2010 will be an interesting year as we should have a lot of new free or commercial health games coming to market and could be regarded as a critical year for defining trends either in Europe or US.

The selected projects covered different themes as ecology (4 projects) , educational and professional training (26 projects), video technologies and information (7 projects), sciences (3 projects) and last but not least Health with 8 projects on 48 :

• MASGAMES : Training to patient relationship management,  tension an cultural diversity management.
• CLES : Cognitive and linguistic simulation platform for Neuropsychologists and Speech Therapists.
• JESTIMULE : Tool for defining the potential uses of serious games, applied to patients suffering Pervasive Behavior Disorders.
• MEDIKIDS : Simulate the hospital course for kids to help them de-dramatize the journey and painful cares.
• MOJOS : Health oriented gaming engine. Using the serious game as complementary care after a stroke.
• SCORE : A serious game platform helping to slow neurological diseases progress.
• SG-COGR : a dedicated tool for screening, pre-diagnose,  and monitor of people suffering from cognitive disorders. SG-Cogra is also a  computerized videogame rehabilitation program.
• SKYWORLD :  A therapeutic R&D project serious game for young cancer patients

This shows that French authorities are “seriously” and officially considering the health game as a therapeutic aid for some specific disease or positive contribution in some situation to a better understanding for patients and health professionals.  I will of course let you know of any commercial or non profit release of this games if available.

The game/device is intended for use by kids between the ages of five to14 and would also connect to Bayer’s DIDGET World, a new password-protected web community where children will be able to spend points that they earn from consistent monitoring practices as well creating their own page.

The device encourages kids to be focused on their testing (read: be consistent) by giving them reward points that they can use to buy items within the game and unlock new game levels. There are two levels available (Basic/Advanced) that allow children to grow in their ability to manage their glucose levels. To learn more on the details of the product, check out Bayer’s DIDGET product page.

According to the article in Health Europe, the device will be available in the UK and Ireland – it is unclear at the moment how Bayer plans to unveil the device in other countries.

Sandra Peterson, head of Bayer Medical Care, mentions:

This product was inspired by a parent of a child with diabetes to directly address the challenges facing kids with diabetes and their parents.

One of the most fascinating aspects of this product is how it came into existence. The father of a young boy with Type 1 diabetes, Paul Wessel, worked with Nintendo on this because he noticed that his son could always find his Gameboy but would constantly lose his glucose meter.

Innovation springs forth due to a need to connect and reinforce value – which is not always easy with kids. Kudos to you Bayer and Nintendo for getting this in the works.

Nanoswarm

Invasion From Inner…

By Mary Ann Pendino …

Book Preview

Why publish?

Archimage, developers of Nanoswarm: Invasion From Inner Space, decided to release the book for publication so the story can be enjoyed while the public awaits the clinical trial results from researchers at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center at Baylor College of Medicine.  Data is scheduled to be released by the end of 2009.

The book was originally written to help the developers fully understand the backstory and characters appearing in the game.  It turned out to be such a good story that co-author Richard Buday felt it shouldn’t gather electronic dust on some hard drive.  It needed to be in print.

The story.

The book sells for $12.95 and will soon include an educational workbook. Here’s what to expect from the novel:

Life in the year 2030 was almost perfect.  War, crime and hunger were history.  Microscopic robots had eradicated pollution.  Scientists were on the verge of curing disease.  Then, one day, people all over the world started getting sick. And no one knew why.  That’s when you, a 12-year-old Trainee Second Class, joined the world’s leading research team. Wings, this is your story.  How will you choose?

About MODSIM World.

The MODSIM World 2009 Conference & Expo takes place October 14-16, 2009 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  MODSIM World is a unique multi-disciplinary International Conference & Exposition for the exchange of modeling & simulation knowledge, research, and technology across industry, government, and academia. Authors, speakers, presentations, workshops, forums, exhibits, and demonstrations will focus on the use of “MODSIM” (modeling and simulation) tools, practices, and applications in emerging and innovative operating environments and across multiple disciplines.  The theme this year is “21st Century Decision-Making: The Art of Modeling & Simulation.”  The conference is organized around seven tracks:

• Health & Medicine
• Serious Games
• Defense & Homeland Security
• Education & Training
• Engineering & Science
• The Human Dimension (Modeling Human Behaviors & Interactions)
• Transportation & Logistics

For the healthgamer.

The 2009 Health & Medicine Track program is being organized by professionals at UVA, ODU, Federation of American Scientists, and the US Army RDECOM.  What an amazing board!  This track is open to all health and medical professionals who are interested in improving their knowledge of simulation-based instructional skills.  The program targets those individuals with a background in healthcare and especially healthcare education.

This important and timely program is an ideal opportunity for health care practitioners, educators, and researchers to explore the various dimensions of modeling, simulation, and serious game usage for clinical teaching and learning.  Individuals interested in learning more about and how to apply, evaluate, and assess simulation within their curriculum and clinical training programs should find the overall conference and Health & Medicine Track program an exciting opportunity for professional growth and development.

Two sessions of the Health & Medicine Track will be devoted to solely to serious games.

Registration.

Cost for the conference differs based on attendee status.  Full conference registration ranges from $100 for students to $300 for industry.  The hosts are expecting individuals from all fields including academia, government, and K-12 education.  See the registration page for details.  Hope to see you there!