Serious gamers with a passion for challenges and innovation might consider the career opportunities presented in the medical gaming and simulation field. A new report from the Games for Health Project shows worldwide sales for health-focused games such as Wii Fit, EA Sports Active and Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution have totaled USD $2 billion over an 18 month period. It is no surprise that this year’s annual Games for Health Conference had an unprecedented turnout. The once negative stigma associated with videogames has come full circle to now be embraced as a significant value-add to the learning and health of our society.
Over the past several years, gamers have driven the demand for evermore sophisticated games and the rendering of very realistic graphics on the screen. Thus the success in medical gaming largely depends upon the ability to give artificial players increasing intelligence (artificial-intelligence [AI]). In order to do so, IT skills required include real-time programming and training courses in distributed system environments or generic simulation training. This growth of interest and opportunity has helped push the gaming technological advancement beyond traditional boundaries.
The Virtual Heroes game America’s Army is a great example. In 2008 this video game, which requires users to go through extensive medical training to pilot a medic, led to a real-life rescue on the North Carolina Interstate. Through 3D simulations of heart surgery procedures students are able to understand and practice in a virtual world before tackling real-life situations. At this year’s Games for Health Conference, Virtual Heroes discussed its upcoming R-Mission 2 game (an upgrade from the 2006 Re-Mission which allows cancer patients to pilot a robot that attacks cancer cells and combats the side effects of treatments). R-Mission 2 promises to conquer the sensory experience challenge by shifting the players to a first person perspective.
Previously, we have discussed how the salvation of the healthcare industry lies within technology, and thus the momentum in the medical gaming and simulation industry aligns with this outlook. IT professionals who have worked in the defense gaming and simulations industry will see more career growth in health care as health care spending is now roughly 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense.
To help keep up-to-date on this industry’s pulse, I recommend you check out Dave Talyor’s blog called Virtual World Innovations. He is the founder of Second Life and documents new and emerging best practices of virtual works. Recently, he developed a virtual ward for a group of staff nurses at St. Mary’s Hospital in West London. His virtual ward provided nurses the opportunity to practice and test reactions to unexpected and expected situations. So far, the trial is going well. Also, GameCareerGuide.com offers great resources for gamers at any point in their career with an abundant amount of information on upcoming trends, personal anecdotes and much more.
Photo from Virtual Heroes
Tags: Gaming, Health Care, Simulation
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Mike Bryan
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Mike,
DO I have your permission to use your article in my presentation to teachers next week on “SIMULATIONS”. I will be starting by talking about Sim City and then moving to Second Life. But I do want to end with “Americas Army” and articles like yours. I would post your face to a power point and tell the attendees your article and blog links are included in the attached CD ROM.
I am older than you so Cell Phones, Robots, Micro Processing,GEO tracking, RF tags,and global networking was the future tech when I was a kid. Now I teach it. I want these teachers to ask their students who or what will be the next “Jetsons”, Buck Rodgers, or even Maxwell Smart. Wish me luck.
Comment by Guy M. Zaczek — August 17, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
Hi Guy,
Thank you very much for your comments and interest in my blog. I have no problem with you using the article for the purposes you mention and hope it will educate and maybe even generate some more traffic to the blog. I am still learning about medical simulation as the majority of my experience has been with DOD related simulation. There certainly seems to be a great future and crossover for med sim not only in Orlando but generally as well. Best wishes to you on your project.
Comment by Michael Bryan — August 21, 2009 @ 10:24 am
Medical Lessons …on patients, doctors, information and some ideas they might share…
requirement in order to avail the best medical facilities and attention,
After number of medical scams making rounds and sucking patients every day …
Comment by Medical — August 3, 2010 @ 5:55 am