Pioneering Ideas

Posting from TED: Health, Design and Game-Changers

Sorry for the lapse in TED posting…never have I seen an event program as packed as this.  It’s made getting back to the hotel a challenge, and throw in some tenuous wireless connections…well, you get the point.  But here’s a recap of RWJF’s luncheon at TED, held Thursday. 

We had a packed room of 60 TEDsters--including the creators of Del.icio.us and hotornot.com, heads of design schools, the president of user experience design firm Adaptive Path (developer of the Charmr, from an earlier Emily Culbertson post), execs from venture capital and game development firms, David Pogue (technology columnist for the New York Times and one of my favorite writers) and the founder of DNA Direct (a genetic testing and management company)—with about 30 who lined up to attend, but unfortunately we couldn’t accommodate due to space limitations.

Pam Omidyar, founder of HopeLab gave a great recap of the inspiration behind and clinical outcomes linked to Re-Mission, the video game developed for kids battling cancer.  There were cheers when she showed the results, which demonstrated that kids who played the game had higher levels of treatment adherence and more knowledge about their disease ,and were more empowered to fight back.  She showed amazing MRI imagery that showed players’ brains on Re-Mission.  Areas tied to emotional processing lit up, which was key to internalizing the lessons underlying the challenge and excitement of the first-person shooter game.  We were honored to have Taylor Carol and his dad, Jim, with us – Taylor is now in full remission from leukemia, played the game during his six months in the hospital, and is the star of our promise story on Re-Mission. 

John Maeda, president of RISD, outlined distinctions in mission and change vision between designers and artists, and called on more designers to apply their skills, thinking, creativity and ingenuity to save the world.  Having given some of the more popular TED Talks in years past, he provoked the group to think differently about the potential of this space.

The group then turned to the game jam, led by Ben Sawyer and game designers Noah Falstein and Larry Holland.  The crowd first decided to tackle the issues of chronic disease, and then refined the challenge further to focus on actions and behaviors.  Some of the ideas they proposed that seemed promising to the game developers included:

• Addressing metabolic syndrome, using a game approach to help navigate the different associated conditions and co-morbidities, trade-offs among treatments, and patients’ abilities to manage aspects of their condition.
• Developing a realistic, action-based approach to the immunization debate that can inform decisions around vaccine safety.
• A game focused on how to manage depression…when asked why that intrigued them, the developers replied, “Because it seems hard.”  
• Helping patients better navigate health care systems and services.

Noah and Larry continued to work through these possibilities in to the evening on Thursday and all day Friday.  The results of their concept development will be unveiled at our TED Lab exhibit space this morning.

We’re grateful to Pam, John, Ben, Larry and Noah for joining us and shining a spotlight on the potential for games to spark big change in health and health care.  I think people came away with a sense for that potential to touch people’s lives and help them pursue health goals and make informed decisions in uniquely powerful ways. 

Ben and his team are going to see where these ideas may go from here, so let us hear your input on how this exploration can lead to the next breakthrough health game.

Debra Lieberman on Health Games Research’s new Call for Proposals

Today, Health Games Research released their second Call for Proposals: Health Games Research: Advancing Effectiveness of Interactive Games for Health. We will wrap up our week-long conversation with Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., director of Health Games Research, with a discussion about this new funding opportunity.

Debra, can you tell us about the types of grants that will be available through this Call for Proposals?

The focus of the Call for Proposals (CFP), both during the first round of funding and now, is on research that will discover principles of health game design. This year the funding limit is higher: $300,000.  The money must be used primarily for research and only a small percentage of the grant – no more than 25 percent of the funding – is permitted to be used for developing game software or technology that will be used in the study   Also, like last year, the research must focus on a physical activity game that motivates people to get up and move, and/or on a self-care game that motivates people to engage in prevention, lifestyle improvement, self-management of chronic conditions or adherence to their treatment plan.  As we saw last year, these guidelines keep the program focused, yet they are not so restrictive that we don’t see a wide range of research issues addressed, game platforms used, game genres, research questions or study populations in the funded projects.

Are there specific things that you’re looking in this round of grantees?

We are looking for projects that focus on physical activity games and self-care games. The games may appear on any platform, with any genre, but they must be well designed and have theory or evidence demonstrating the game’s effectiveness.   

How can people learn more about this funding opportunity?

The complete Health Games Research Call for Proposals is available at http://www.healthgamesresearch.org  Additionally, there will be two optional web conference calls for potential applicants on February 11, 2009 (3 p.m. ET) and February 19, 2009 (4 p.m. ET).  Proposals are due by 3 p.m. ET on April 8, 2009. The conference calls are great opportunities for potential applicants to learn more about the program and to ask questions about the CFP requirements.

 Are there any tips you want to share with potential applicants?

The best tip I can give is to encourage applicants to read the Call for Proposals carefully and make sure that all the criteria and requirements have been met. Make sure your research team has the skills required to carry out the proposed project and that you are realistic about the budget and time line. Be sure to provide a good theory-based justification for your research plan, too. What are your hypotheses? Are they based on any theoretical knowledge and findings that already exist, and how are you taking your study to the next level? And be sure to include a dissemination plan for your work and explain how your findings will help us improve health games in the future

Thanks so much to Debra for taking the time to talk with us.  Health Games Research is taking on some really exciting work and we look forward to following the progress of the project's grantees. 

Interesting things, here and there...

Thanks to Jerry Michalski of Sociate for telling us about a massively multiplayer online game hosted by Institute for the Future called Superstruct.  The folks who do IFTF's 10-year forecasts put together a game in which anyone and everyone can figure out what life might be like in 2019, and help invent the future of society as it relates to 5 different scenarios.  One is directly about health -- the QUARANTINE category states that outbreaks have become a common element of our existence.  It focuses on a respiratory infectious disease called ReDS and challenges players to consider all the implications and figure out how to respond.

The other game scenarios have important implications for health as well, as they immerse you in envisioning a world in which we're:

• RAVENOUS - the food chain is broken and we have to reinvent ways to feed ourselves
• in a POWER STRUGGLE - the world is caught up in "Alternative Fuel" wars over what will take the place of oil
• facing GENERATION EXILE - our neighbors have become climate and economic disaster refugees in search of new places to live, or
• an OUTLAW PLANET -- In 2019, the mobile internet and sensor networks we rely on to hold our societies together are being hacked, griefed, and gamed.

The site today reports that there are 4,905 players with a collective score of 4,911.  What this means is that the current survival horizon, based on all of these superthreats and how we deal with them, is through 2047.  The game started on Oct. 6 and runs for 6 weeks -- check it out and sign up to play.

Another item worth reading is eFuturist Douglas Goldstein's take on the future of video games and health, posted today on The Health Care Blog.  He has this to say:

"It may be surprising to some that the health care industry has been among the first to recognize the ‘game-changing’ potential of games in business and other environments.  Leaders in the health care sector are now embracing video games as an integral part of a digitally enabled health culture."

He also points to an October 2008 market report from iConecto that identifies health games as a growing field.  Right now, they estimate that the health games market stands "at approximately $7 billion during the next 12 months including the markets for brain fitness ($267M), exergaming ($6.4B+) and other Health eGames on the consumer and professional side ($250M+).  An expanded executive summary of the report can be obtained here.

Modern Healthcare Reports on Pioneer's Work on Games

Recently, Modern Healthcare highlighted Health Games Research, Games for Health and Pioneer's overall interest in exploring games as a health care innovation. The magazine described the work of our grantees and reported on recent research into the interaction of games and health. We thought you'd like to see what they had to say:

The Games Patients Play

Whether it's for treatment, prevention or even provider education, health care is becoming more and more interactive. An article by Modern Healthcare.

By Jessica Zigmond

Improving 21st century healthcare is, unquestionably, an expensive, complex and vital endeavor for the U.S. But can it also be fun?

Researchers, hospitals and insurers think so, which is why they’re investing time and money to develop interactive games that could change behavior—and perhaps help cut costs—in healthcare.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a not-for-profit philanthropy that focuses on the country’s most pressing healthcare needs, is leading these efforts through Health Games Research, an $8.25 million project funded through the foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio. Established about five years ago, the Pioneer Portfolio considers innovative ideas that could “break the current paradigms of healthcare,” says Chinwe Onyekere, a program officer at the foundation who works with the Pioneer team. In May, the foundation awarded more than $2 million to help bolster the evidence base that supports the development and use of interactive games for health purposes. A dozen institutions were granted up to $200,000 each to lead one- to-two-year studies of games that engage players who range in age from 8 to 98.

“We’re gaining insight into how people learn,” says Debra Lieberman, director of Health Games Research and a lecturer in the department of communication at the University of California at Santa Barbara, which is the program’s headquarters. “What I love is that people do this willingly. These games are so well-received,” she says, adding that it’s fun to watch how hard people try when playing a game.

Lieberman says she conducted a study of children ages 6 to 11 and asked if they preferred learning from a book, a video or a video game. She found that 49 of the 50 kids said they preferred a video game because it “lets you try things out.” She’s now trying to pull the over-30 generation into this world. “People say this will sugar-coat learning,” she says. “Learning is fun. Everyone loves to learn, but they need a reason to learn.”

The article continues after the jump.

Like Games? Then You'll Love the Game Jam

"But what exactly is a Game Jam?" you might be asking.

A "Game Jam" is a marathon session that challenges teams of game designers, programmers and artists to work round-the-clock for a limited period of time to create small, playable games that demonstrate innovative ideas. At the end of the "jam session," competitors showcase their work, which is critiqued and judged by a panel of professional game developers and educators.

Sound like fun?  We think so, and we are excited to announce that Games for Health is hosting their first Experimental Health Game Jam October 18-19, 2008 at the University of Baltimore. The event is open to individuals and teams of all shapes and sizes, including student groups, independent game developers and programmers with the goal of developing prototypes for games that people can play to learn about and improve their health.

Participants will gather on Friday, October 17 at which time Games for Health will unveil a simple challenge and set of goals for the teams to focus on as they develop their games. Teams will have the weekend to incubate an idea, draw up basic supporting design and art, and then program it into a playable game prototype. Winners will be judged not only on the originality, quality and playability of their resulting work, but also by how well the game potentially addresses the health problem presented at the outset of the weekend.

The winner will receive a $3,000 reward. An additional prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the best student-built game.

If you are interested in health games, you will not want to miss this. Click here for more information or to register for this first ever Health Game Jam.

New Evidence Supports Re-Mission and Advances Games for Health

We have talked quite a bit about games for health and building the evidence to understand the health impact of video and computer games here on Pioneering Ideas. Given that, I wanted to share with you a new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics.

The study evaluated the impact of playing Re-Mission, a video game developed by HopeLab specifically for teens and young adults with cancer, on key behavioral and psychological factors associated with successful cancer treatment. For those of your not familiar with Re-Mission, the game allows players, primarily young cancer patients, to pilot a microscopic robot named Roxxi through the bodies of fictional cancer patients, blasting away cancer cells and battling the side-effects of cancer and cancer treatments.

The study, the largest health game study to date, found that participants who played Re-Mission maintained higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood and took their antibiotics more consistently than those in the control group. Re-Mission players also showed faster acquisition of cancer-related knowledge and an increased sense of control over cancer.

In a press release issued by HopeLab, Steve Cole, Ph.D., vice president of research and co-author of the article, said, “This study shows that a strategically designed video game can be a powerful new tool to enhance the impact of medical treatment by motivating healthy behavior in the patient.”

We couldn’t agree more and expect that the work of Pioneer’s national program, Health Games Research will help continue to build this body of research and inform and advance game development to improve health outcomes.

Game Drives Open-Source Biochemical Discoveries

On Day 1 of the Games for Health conference, Zoran Popovic of the University of Washington gave a demo of his Fold It! game project.  This unique effort, produced in partnership with Electronic Arts and others, is a massive multiplayer game that challenges thousands of players to work in competition and collaboratively to answer unknowns about the stucture and design of proteins.  I don't know a whole lot about proteins, beyond the fact that they play a big part in many diseases and also can contribute to cures, which is intriguing scientists like Zoran.  Ultimately, the answers uncovered through the game play contribute to the search for vaccines and cures related to HIV/AIDS, cancer, Alzheimers, etc.

    Here's a screen shot of Fold It!

Rockin' Out!

At the opening plenary session of today's Games for Health conference, Ben Sawyer introduced modded (modified) guitars that allow Guitar Hero to be played with one arm. The modded guitars followed a discussion with a rehabilitation therapist in North Carolina and a game developer in Wisconsin. The therapist asked for a version of Guitar Hero for her patients who had lost an arm or had limited use of an arm. Guitar Hero provided guitars to Ben Heckendorn who created a modified pedal that allows the player to strum the guitar with her foot. This is a big contribution towards accessible video games, but it also illustrates the power of collaboration. Games for Health brings together people who work (and face challenges) in health and health care to designers and developers from the video game industry with new solutions.

Below are some pics of Ben Sawyer (with tie around his head) and Ben Heckendorn rocking out with the modded Guitar Hero.

Come game with us!

The Games for Health Conference is just around the corner, and with all of our recent posts about games, I wanted to remind folks about this exciting event.

The conference sessions are too numerous to name here, but if you have any interests in the future of exergames, exergyms, rehabitainment, and improving health outcomes for gray gamers – this event is for you. The conference will highlight games that are being used to train health care professionals, reduce stress and improve health behaviors, as well as the research that is being done to understand how and why games can improve health and health care. The conference will also feature a panel of representatives from the nation’s largest health insurance companies, including conference sponsor, Humana, to discuss their current and future health game initiatives. If we’ve piqued your interest – you can check out the complete list of conference sessions here.

The Details

Games for Health Conference 2008

May 8-9, 2008

Baltimore Convention Center

Baltimore, Maryland

Click here to register

RWJF's Wii Workout

Following on Theresa's post...

Though we might not be as edgy as the Game Developers Conference (yet), RWJF is making strides (and swings, punches, serves, strikes and spares).  We thought you might like to check out a few photos from the recent "getting to know Wii" sessions that the Foundation held for staff.  Thanks to all who graciously gave us the OK to share these (and who pull it off with such style in their business-gamer attire).

	Linda and Lois duke it out in the boxing ring.
	Jasmine and James have the crowd on their feet.
	And Wilson shows off his left hook as Jasmine plans her next move.

There's even talk that they may break out the Wii for our trustees to play during their upcoming board meeting.  In a few weeks I'll check in with Kristine Nasto, who oversees our facilities including the fitness center, to see whether and how the games are influencing people's workout preferences.