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Showing posts from December, 2012

Serious Play Conference 2013: Save The Date

The 3 rd edition of the Serious Play Conference will be held Tuesday – Thursday, August 20-22, 2013 at the DigiPen Institute of Technology, in Redmond, WA (please find also First-Ever Serious Play Conference Covers Most Of Serious Games Taxonomy ). At Serious Play Conference , heads of workforce development programs in corporations, healthcare or the government can get a good understanding of how Serious Games can be successfully applied to education, workforce or executive training and consumer learning programs.  At SPC, attendees can rub shoulders one-on-one with the experts, learning how game mechanics are moving across the various Serious Games sectors, revolutionizing training and education contexts in every industry. Next year SPC will also offer 4 introductory workshops: Using Games to Develop Talent, Engage Workforce Integrating Games into the K-12 Curriculum Using Location-based Games to Engage Audiences Teaching Serious Games Development

Serious Games International Being Set For Market Dominance

Serious Games International aims to grab a significant share of the Serious Game Market According to Ambient Insight’s report 2011-2016 Worldwide Game-based Learning Market: All Roads Lead to Mobile , the worldwide game-based learning market reached $1.2 billion in 2011 and revenues will more than double to $2.5 billion by 2015, implying global sales will grow at 15.4% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate). (Please find also Serious Games, Serious Money: A Sizeable Market and Serious Games A Sizeable Market - Update ). These figures underline the growing dependency on games to convey learning content that engages users more fully and increases their knowledge retention. Although Serious Games have become a crucial part of the learning process, they have not been harnessed to their full potential.  Serious Games International ( SGIL ), the commercial spin out from the Serious Games Institute at Coventry University in UK ,aims to grab a significant share of this mar

Serious Games To Practice Prosthetic Control

Unity put together a new highlight reel to demonstrate their Serious Games capabilities in celebration of their attendance at this year’s I /ITSEC, early December. Among the embedded Serious Games clips is the Virtual Prosthesis Trainer (please find also Serious Games Enhancing The Rehabilitation Environment – Update ) to help individuals with upper-limb amputations learn how to use their prostheses. The prosthesis manufacturer Ottobock has teamed up with researchers from the Interactive Media Systems Group at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna), Austria, to develop the virtual reality training environment. Development of the VR training application, the brainchild of Andrei Ninu, an engineer at Ottobock, and Hannes Kaufmann, PhD, associate professor at TU Vienna, started in spring 2011 by Ninu and Michael Bressler, a TU Vienna master’s student.   Wearing a VR headset and sensors to track arm movements, users can practice controlling their myoelectric p

Nevermind: Serious Games For Psychological Trauma Patients

Nevermind , developed by the University of Southern California , was selected as finalist in the 2012 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge under the Student Category (Please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge 2012 Awards To Be Announced Today ).  Nevermind is a psychological horror puzzle game set within the minds of psychological trauma patients that uses biofeedback sensor technology to help the player learn how to better manage his or her stress levels: the game uses a heart rate sensor to challenge the player to stay calm in uncomfortable situations.  It is an independent game developed within the USC Games Program by a team of students with diverse backgrounds led by Erin Reynolds, in collaboration with industry experts and advisers from a variety fields, and with additional support from artists at the Atlantic College University.  The game is currently a PC-only Proof of Concept. Although there is no set release date at this time, the team looks forward

WhyPower: STEM Serious Games Creating Career Pathways

Whyville and Numedeon (please find also Serious Games Helping Kids Understand Food Labels ) have announced a new project WhyPower : a middle school program and supplemental curriculum that teaches the math and science of energy. The platform for instruction is Whyville, the learning-based environment for teens. WhyPower teaches core academic math and science content, and also career content, all matched to standards, helping middle-students to understand why math and science matter and encouraging them to plan ahead and take challenging STEM courses in their high school program. Students learn about: fractions, ratios and proportions, unit conversions, graph reading and data interpretation, measurement, mental math, rate of return, and problem solving. They also learn about the science of the energy industry: kilowatts, kilowatt-hours, R-Values and housing materials, Energy Star ratings and appliance selection, and sources of power including coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro

VRUM: Serious Games To Learn Traffic Rules

VRUM is an Educational Serious Game developed by ThinkBox Games that allows kids and teenagers to learn the main traffic rules in a fun and intuitive environment (please find also Brazil's Video Game Ecosystem: Superior Serious Games Products ). The game complies with Brazilian National Educational Traffic Guidelines from the National Traffic Department and utilizes a 3D interface where the player experiences several real life traffic situations both as a driver (for cars and motorcycles) and as a pedestrian. Players are to act according to traffic rules while accomplishing game missions along the fictional Santa Fe city. Educational Content and Context VRUM  "Serious Game" presents a broad traffic-related educational content, building knowledge around 30+ Brazilian traffic rules. It also inspires players to reflect about several traffic issues, aiming at promoting a culture of peace and respect in public spaces among participants. Players s

Serious Games As Information Assurance Adventures

Cyber Awareness Challenge , developed by Carney,Inc . , was selected as finalist in the 2012 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge under the Business Category (Please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge 2012 Awards To Be Announced Today ). As a finalist, Cyber Awareness Challenge   could be experienced at the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge pavilion (booth #3263) at the Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) last week.  C yber Awareness Challenge is a Serious Game that simulates the decisions Federal Government information systems’ players make every day as they perform their work. Rather than using a narrative format, the Challenge presents the instructional topics for information assurance awareness through first-person simulations and mini-games that allow the player to experience information assurance concepts and best practices in an interactive manner. The goal of the Cyber Awareness Challenge is to c

Serious Games To Solve Science Mystery About Epidemics

Crystal Island: Lost Investigation , developed by North Carolina State University , was selected as finalist in the 2012 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge under the Business Category (please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge 2012 Awards To Be Announced Today ). As a finalist, Crystal Island: Lost Investigation could also be experienced at the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge pavilion (booth #3263) at the Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) last week. Crystal Island: Lost Investigation is a game-based learning environment for middle-grade science and literacy. Crystal Island, with its 3D interface, fully immerses players in the role of an Intelligence Officer who is conducting a research to solve the science mystery about the epidemic that has struck a team of researchers stationed on a remote and mostly uninhabited tropical island. Students solve a science mystery by investigating an outbreak on a remote i

Virtual Attain: Serious Games For Patrol Operations

Virtual Attain, developed RealTime Immersive Inc. , a Simulation and Serious Games company supporting CryENGINE® licensees, is the winner of the “Best Business Game” Award, one of the six award categories of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge, at I/ITSEC 2012 (Please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Announces 2012 Winners ). Virtual Attain is designed to be used by soldiers who have previously received training, such as patrol operations, casualty evacuation, call for fire, egress, and special operation tactics. The game puts the commander or patrol leader in a virtual driver seat with a real life scenario where things can go wrong before they step foot on the battlefield. It is designed to help soldiers start planning for what could happen given the history of an area of operation. Virtual Attain’s use of robust review features, including the Observation Marking System, After Action Review, and Situational Decision Point allows players to m

Serious Games To Practice Needs Based Sales Process

Vision Needs Based Training Game, developed by Breakaway Ltd for Essilor , was selected as finalist in the 2012 Serious Games Showcase & Challenge under the Business Category (Please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge 2012 Awards To Be Announced Today ). As a finalist, Vision could be experienced at the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge pavilion (booth #3263) at the Interservice/Industry Training Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) last week. Essilor’s "Serious Game" Training Tool has been under development for the past two years, while being tested with Eye Care Professionals (ECPs) in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Leveraging on Essilor findings that patients have a higher response rate and greater perception of product value when Eye Care Professionals make recommendations based on their individual interests, needs and lifestyles, Vision gameplay makes possible to effectively elicit patient needs and match them with the best

Serious Games Adopting a Stealth Learning Approach

 Machineers, developed by the IT University of Copenhagen , is the winner of the “Best Student Game” Award,   one of the six award categories of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge, at I/ITSEC 2012 (Please find also Serious Games Showcase & Challenge Announces 2012 Winners ). Machineers is a 2D puzzle adventure game set in a quirky robotic world inspired by Machinarium. The main character, Zola, is starting her first day as an apprentice in Hayden’s repair shop. The inhabitants of the amusement park town need her help to fix their machines. Machineers is based on a unique combination of stealth learning and experiential learning. The game is not advertised as educational to the player in order to avoid a biased mindset and enables the learner to actively construct knowledge by interacting with the game elements representing the learning content. The central idea of adopting a stealth learning approach to “experience” logic and programming concepts is great