Healthy Gaming » army

Anti-Smoking Game (for the Army) to Cost $3.7M

Chris — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:09:23 +0000

Tobacco use among active-duty military personnel is almost double what it is in the civilian population, and while smoking has decreased overall in the U.S., it’s been on the rise in the military since 2002. To change that, the Department of Defense (DoD) is looking to…videogames?

The government agency has awarded researchers at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston a $3.7 million grant create a video game that will deter soldiers from smoking and help those who already do to quit.

"The video game in general is becoming more popular among researchers who want to deliver a health message to a target audience," says Alexander Prokhorov, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson, who will lead the work. Video games are also being used to teach people about nutrition, asthma and other health-related issues, he notes.

Wii turns therapy into a game for injured veterans

Chris — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:11:03 +0000

From tampabay.com:

After a 2007 helicopter crash in Italy left Army Sgt. Mark Lalli’s brain and body damaged, the road to recovery took him to an unexpected place.

A cyber bowling alley.

The James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa finds itself at the vanguard of a therapeutic revolution at the Department of Veterans Affairs, using a popular video game to bring veterans back from the brink.

One recent day at Haley, Lalli faced a wide-screen television hooked up to a Nintendo Wii (pronounced WE) game system.

Using a motion-sensitive controller in one hand, the 23-year-old swung his arm as if rolling a bowling ball while standing with help from a therapist. On the screen, a ball flew down the alley, clearing pins with all the sound-effects of reality. A spare.

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Soldiers get virtual reality training

Chris — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:30:38 +0000

From itexaminer.com:

Intelligence Gaming has designed a unique, immersive cultural simulation (ICS) project used to train US troops deployed overseas.

The ICS is based on RealityV and is powered by a customised Adobe Flash Player 10 capable of running on multiple platforms, or in enhanced mode with a head-mounted display. The ICS project, which offers 360-degrees of video and eight binaural audio channels, allows users to interact with actors recorded in high-definition digital media. Trainees navigating their virtual environment are able to fully observe live action content that influences decision making in the field. Indeed, ICS tracks even the slightest movements and accurately renders perspective-correct audio and video to the head-mounted display.

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Therapist uses Nintendo Wii in customized rehab therapy for injured reservist

Chris — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:13:03 +0000

From google.com (Canadian Press):

The scene isn’t playing out against enemy combatants in a war zone but on a large TV at St. John’s Rehab Hospital, where the injured reservist is taking aim at animated images darting onto and off of the screen.
But there’s an added dimension to the device he’s using to take out his pixelated targets: the remote is housed inside a replica of the gun he carries on the front lines.
Phillips is testing out an innovative, customized therapy incorporating the Nintendo Wii video gaming system in an effort to simulate his real-life combat experience.
Occupational therapist Terrence Yuen said it was a conversation with his son that sparked the idea of creating a toy model of a gun to house the Wii control Phillips could use in a rehab training exercise.

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New Driving Simulator Helps Injured American Soldiers

Chris — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:01:51 +0000

From voanews.com:

American soldiers in combat drive tanks and Humvees. But when members of the military return to the United States to recover from critical injuries, they need help re-learning how to drive regular cars. The nation’s army rehabilitation hospital, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, has a new tool to get veterans driving their own automobiles and their own destiny. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti shows it to us.

Christopher Levi is driving a classic American vehicle. A Chevrolet truck. The driver’s view is different from the real world. But then again, Christopher is a different driver from what he was eight months ago.

He is a double amputee. Christopher’s legs were shattered by a bomb while he was riding in a humvee near Baghdad’s Sadr City. This driving simulator now steers his way through rehabilitation, monitoring his heart rate through a clip on his ear. The goal is to transition from driving in combat to driving in cities.

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Oasis for War Wounded to Open at Fort Sam

Chris — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 01:53:13 +0000

From woai.com:

Judith Markelz has relied on volunteers for years to help the war wounded and their families. They’ve brought meals, DVDs, event tickets and an endless supply of cookies to help comfort those whose lives are suddenly upended by a bomb or a bullet.
So when a new volunteer, Les Huffman, arrived at the chaotic 1,000-square-foot room used for the Warrior and Family Support Center in January 2007 and asked what Markelz needed, the program manager said a new video game system.
But Huffman, the president of a small commercial development firm, wanted to do more. And when Markelz conceded she could use a little more room, that’s what she got: a $5 million building designed like a Texas Hill Country home with a therapeutic garden, classroom, video game room and kitchen – all paid for by private donations. It’s the first center of its kind built on an Army post.
“I asked for an Xbox 360 and I got a 12,500 square-foot building,” she laughs. “Nice trade-off.”

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Army uses video games in suicide prevention

Chris — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:01:40 +0000

From csmonitor.com:

Suicides among soldiers have increased dramatically in the last several years, up by 46 percent since the US invaded Iraq in 2003. Senior service officials recognize that the wars have affected soldiers in the form of post traumatic stress disorder and other manifestations of mental depression, but still haven’t completely figured out how to address the issue.
The Army is conducting new training, handing out “buddy cards” to alert soldiers to problems among their friends, and recently announced a new five-year study to be undertaken with the National Institute of Mental Health.
But one of the more novel solutions is an interactive game called “Beyond the Front,” starring Specialist Norton, a character in a kind of modern-day military morality play. The service plans to send out thousands of copies of the game – part of an Army suicide prevention program costing almost $1 million – to educate soldiers about the dangers of not seeking help when they most need it.

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PopCap Giving Soliders 500 Copies of Bejeweled Twist

Chris — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:06:58 +0000

From gamedaily.com:

PopCap Games today announced that the first 500 retail copies of Bejeweled Twist will be provided to the Games For Soldiers organization tomorrow. The non-profit group will deliver the boxed copy to military personnel stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Consumers will be able to pick up Bejeweled Twist for PC on November 18.

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