Modeling at the Capitol Hill Expo

Earlier this month, we had the privilege of participating in the 2008 Capitol Hill Modeling and Simulation Expo. The event, now in its third year, is hosted by the Congressional Modeling and Simulation Caucus, which is chaired by Rep. J. Randy Forbes (Va.) and Rep. Solomon Ortiz (Tx.). The expo, which is sponsored by the National Training and Simulation Association, took place in the Lobby Room of the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill

Founded by Congressman Forbes in 2005, the Congressional Modeling & Simulation (M&S) Caucus serves as a venue to discuss issues pertaining to modeling and simulation. Historically, the 27-member caucus has been focused on M&S as it relates to the defense industry, but this year the focus was broadened to include M&S applications across all fields.

We were invited to demonstrate 2 of our products:

• Pulse!!, a virtual learning platform created for Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi that allows residents to practice clinical and decision-making skills in a risk-free virtual environment. Pulse!! incorporates a medical teaching curriculum into an anytime/anywhere training environment that is designed to provide learning opportunities with no risk to patients and no additional strain on limited faculty time and availability.
• Incident Commander, a training tool for first responders to coordinate and manage a multi-agency response to a natural or manmade disaster. Built on NIMS Incident Command System protocol, Incident Commander is designed to provide affordable training tools for teams to apply their learning.

Not surprising, given the event organizers’ emphasis on M&S apps beyond defense, there was plenty of buzz around Pulse!! In fact, Congressman Ortiz brought out a lot of people to see our demonstration. On hand to help out with the presentations were Dr. Claudia McDonald, VP of Special Projects at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, and Ed Fletcher, Executive Producer on Pulse!!, along with and Jenn McNamara, Director of Strategic Partnerships for BreakAway.

Because Congressional funding, through the Office of Naval Research, is the source of money for Pulse!! (which represents one of our most significant R&D engines for creating simulation technology), this was a great opportunity for us to demonstrate the value and utility of the tool for members of Congress and their staff. Participating in the expo also gave us the chance to throw our support behind Congressional efforts to encourage and enhance the study of modeling and simulation at institutions of higher learning.

The M&S Caucus is a great promoter of our industry, hosting and co-hosting a number of events each year, like the expo, and supporting legislation that impacts M&S producers and consumers (view a list here). Is your member of Congress part of the Caucus? Click here to view a list of current members.

Meeting and Greeting in Sweden

In early June, we had the opportunity to travel to Stockholm, Sweden, for our first exhibition at the annual ITEC conference. ITEC bills itself as “the only conference and exhibition outside the USA dedicated to defense training, simulation and education,” and it covers all types of training solutions, systems, methodologies, and procurement ideas. The conference, which is managed by the European Training and Simulation Association (ETSA), was held in Sweden for the first time, in honor of the country’s participation in this year’s multinational training and simulation exercise — the Partnership for Peace Exercise: Viking 2008.

Why did we go to the ITEC 2008 conference and exhibition? For one thing, we like to keep up to date with new simulation technology, techniques, and applications that are evolving in other parts of the world. There’s a lot happening outside the confines of our continent, and nothing beats a hands-on experience.

Another reason we went to ITEC — and this one is equally important as the whiz-bang watching — is that the conference is a great opportunity to network with European military and defense experts. ITEC provides one of the best venues for us to find out what our allies are doing and compare notes about their needs versus those of our U.S.-based security and armed forces clients.

The event is the smaller version of the I/ITSEC show, held in Orlando every December, which is so large and heavily attended that we find ourselves jumping every day (and night) to keep up. While many international defense professionals attend I/ITSEC, ITEC is the show that’s devoted to the international defense community. Because of its smaller size, we got to spend much more time talking, demonstrating, and learning about the international needs in modeling and simulation.

Highlights of the trip included:

• Briefing a NATO delegation on modeling and simulation. We were one of four companies that met with a group of military officials from the organization to discuss current implementations of modeling and simulation (M&S) technology. The discussions were focused on ways in which to exploit game technology for M&S, and several people from the meeting came to visit us on the show floor for further demos. The bottom line is that the international appetite for game technology is huge – there is great enthusiasm for it, particularly among nations that have not made the same kinds of investments in the development of large-scale simulation tools, as we have in the U.S.
• Talking with foreign defense professionals from all over Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, and gaining an understanding of how our technology fits into the worldwide training picture. Although the U.S. military enjoys an arsenal of modeling and simulation tools to select from when creating training programs, many other nations do not have the same degree of choice available to them. Smaller forces and correspondingly smaller budgets mean they’re looking for a lot of bang for the buck. Game technology delivers on value-for-money propositions — we’ve been saying that for years — and there is a hunger internationally for the solutions we offer.
• Getting to know our competitors better (and realizing we are more equals than rivals). Even hardcore gamers can play nice. We spent time with the Aussies behind Virtual Battlespace 2 (VBS2), which is a high-fidelity, first-person training simulation toolkit built from game technology created by Bohemia Interactive, in the Czech Republic. VBS2 is embraced by defense forces worldwide as a virtual and constructive simulation tool for military training. With our focus on the strategic, commander-level view, and their emphasis on the soldier’s tactical training view, we’re much more complementary than competitive. We have a mutual interest in advancing the use of game technology, and shared passion for turning over tools to our customers so that they can harness the technology on their own.

Probably the best reason to attend a meeting such as ITEC is to get away, to break out of the routine, head out to find ideas and inspiration away from the workplace, and ultimately to see clients and key industry players in one place, sharing a common experience. And you can’t beat Stockholm in June for providing stimulating surroundings and meeting places. We came back feeling energized and fully motivated for generating some exciting news and events this fall. So stay tuned.

Did you attend ITEC 2008 or a previous version? Tell us your impression of the event.

Health ‘Pioneers’ Are Bloggers, Too

We’ve been blogging a lot lately about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and its support for the Games for Health project. But we’re not the only ones. The folks at RWJF have their own blog, “Pioneering Ideas,” which is an ongoing discussion about “breakthrough ideas in health and health care” by staff at the foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio.

The goal of the blog is to "cultivate new ideas and foster innovative thinking" and, as a result, it makes for interesting reading. Recent Pioneer blog posts include a round-up of the GFH conference, which featured a discussion of the Fold It!, a new computer game enabling players to contribute to scientific research for vaccines and cures, and an interview with Lynn Etheredge, whose research shows that “rapid learning” and “comparative effectiveness” might spark dramatic improvements in the future of health and health care systems management.

Other Pioneer posts, such as a discussion of a recent study that shows how the analysis of social networks (particularly in the areas of obesity and smoking cessation) opens up a whole new way of exploring health behavior, make this a must-read blog for anyone interested in innovative solutions to health and health care.

A First-Person View of Game Technology

In a recent post, we mentioned the very important financial support that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has provided to the Games for Health organization, including funding for Health Games Research, a new national program to support research to enhance the quality and effectiveness of interactive games that are used to improve health.

But don't just take our word for it. You can see first-hand how that support is being put to use, connecting the worlds of video games and health care, at the RWJF’s Web site. Several short videos show in vivid detail how the interactivity and virtual realism of video gaming can change health behavior and improve health care.

One of the clips features interviews with Claudia L. McDonald, PhD, and Thomas J. McLaughlin, DO, both affiliated with Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, and both heavily involved in BreakAway’s creation of Pulse!!, a virtual emergency room training platform that gives medical personnel a “hands-on” experience with trauma patients.

Take a look and see why Drs. McDonald and McLaughlin, as well as others featured in the rest of the clips, chose game-based technology to create a learning platform for teaching health professionals in their organizations.

Maybe these videos can help answer questions that you may have about how game-based technology could make a difference to you and your organization. Or maybe they raise questions in your mind. Let us know what you think.

GFH Highlights Redux

In our most recent post, we pointed out some of the reasons why we (and others) think the Games For Health conference matters (See “The ABCs of Why GFH Matters”). Here are some specific examples to show the wide range of companies involved, activities undertaken, and technology topics covered during the 2008 conference. For instance:

• Activision unveiled a new version of its popular video game Guitar Hero, designed to aid arm amputee rehabilitation.
• Red Hill Studios presented its findings about the use of PDWii to aid balance and mobility in Parkinson's patients.
• Pediatric patients may soon get a chance to play DITTO (Diversionary Therapy Device), a multi-modal distraction device, developed in partnership with the Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, that is designed to control pain and stress among patients undergoing burn and orthopedic medical procedures.
• A panel discussion explored how exergaming in gyms and other settings can be used to combine physical activity and fun. Another focused on how future exergame design should work to ensure maximum health benefits.
• Health care insurance giant, Humana, a primary sponsor of GFH, supported a plenary session at the conference to detail the game-related efforts launched by several of the largest health insurance plan providers. The group discussed their views about what is needed in the future to use games and games technology to solve the critical problems in health that they and others are facing.
• Humana also announced the launch of HumanaGames a new Web that provides information about Humana’s programs, mission, and vision, as well as details on the health benefits of game technology.
• 3DiTeams, funded by the U.S. Army Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), and developed by Virtual Heroes with Duke University's Human Simulation and Patient Safety Center, previewed a 3D simulation of emergency health care environments.
• Officials from Medical Cyberworlds discussed the progress of its online multiplayer game to train doctors to communicate more effectively with their patients and the challenges of encouraging effective collaboration between physicians, academics, and game developers.

As you can see, there’s something for everyone at GFH. So, if you have an interest in, or want more information about, the way games and game technologies can impact health, health care and policy, we encourage you to attend the 2009 conference.

The ABCs of Why GFH Matters

In our last post, we talked about the merits of the recently concluded Games For Health conference, which was held in Baltimore earlier this year. GFH is a great event that brings together a wide range of people involved in health care –- from researchers and academics to medical professionals, reps from pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, and government officials –- to meet with game developers and share information about the impact games and game technologies can have on health, health care and policy.

For this post, we want to drill down to some of the specific reasons that highlight why we think GFH matters and, more important, why you should think first before missing next year’s conference:

• For starters, the leading minds in the health care arena think GFH matters -– and can make a difference in the way people learn, work, and live. At this year’s conference it was announced that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) chipped in $8.25 million in late 2007 to launch the Health Games Research, a new national program to support research to enhance the quality and effectiveness of interactive games that are used to improve health. Although RWJF supports ongoing research to forge connections between the games and health fields, this grant represents a significant new investment to advance the health-related impact of games by RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which made an initial grant in 2005 to the Games for Health Project, whose work to connect game industry leaders with scholars and health experts heightened interest in the potential for this field to positively influence health.

• But don’t take our word on the matter: Listen to Ben Sawyer, Serious Games guru and founder of the GFH movement, and Chinwe Onyekere, RWJF program officer, discuss the growth of the games for health field and why they think large-scale funding like this is critical to supporting the effort to bring new ideas and innovation to health and health care – such as the use of video games for rehab and therapy or for training medical providers and first responders plan for natural disasters – through research and events, like the GFH conference: http://www.hastingsgroupmedia.com/GolinHarris/050808GamesforHealth.wma
  

In the next post, we’ll highlight some of the other information we found, along with technology breakthroughs that occurred at GFH, that we think could make a difference to you and your organization.

A Healthy Dose of Games For Health

Where were you on May 8-9?

Well, if you are interested in new ways to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve health care, and you weren’t in Baltimore attending the annual Games for Health conference, then you missed out on a great opportunity.

Over the span of three full days, more than 300 people participated in about 60 sessions, run by an international array of expert speakers, cutting across a wide range of activities in health and health care. Topics included exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, biofeedback, epidemiology, training, cognitive exercise, nutrition and health education.

We were there. We always try to attend Games for Health, or GFH, now in its fourth year. It’s a great way for us to meet with people who are either involved with or interested in becoming better acquainted with game technology. In fact, we met two of our newest clients – Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi and Medical College of Georgia School of Dentistry – at past GFH conferences.

And we think you should be there, too. This year, there were more people and organizations involved than ever before, including a number of big players in the health care industry. For instance, Humana organized a special Keynote Panel, which featured four of the nation’s leading health insurance providers discussing their emerging activities in the games for health field – a first in the conference’s history, according to organizer Serious Games Initiative, a Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars effort that applies cutting-edge games and game technologies to a range of public and private policy, leadership and management issues.

Over the next couple of posts, we will provide some highlights and more detailed coverage of the 2008 GFH conference. This will serve as a nice recap for those of you who attended and provide a little insight for those of you who did not. Mainly, we hope that you will gain a greater understanding of the impact games and game technologies can have on health, health care and policy, and that you will see the value in attending next year’s conference.

Welcome to Our New Blog!

At BreakAway, we believe that game technology has the power to transform the way people learn, work, and live. We also believe that we have the power to transform the way you think about game technology.

We hope our new blog will be the lead agent for that change.

Our goal is to provide open, two-way communication, and as a result, foster a relationship between the gaming experts at BreakAway and you -- a core group of people interested in new ways to use cutting-edge games and game technologies to improve the ways you, your staff and your organization operate.

With each post of this blog we will provide useful, how-to information that you can use, as well as share opinions and knowledge about the serious games industry. We’ll cover topics that we think will be of interest and value to you, and we will cull our ideas from a range of sources, such as surveys we conduct, e-mail and other direct communications we receive from readers, industry conferences, other media resources, BreakAway staff discussions, etc.

We created this blog with you in mind, and we hope you will let us know how we’re doing.