The University of Arizona (UA) has officially licensed
to startup Desert Saber LLC a new “Serious Game” for coal mine safety training
titled Harry’s Hard Choices.
The game was developed at UA Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources (IMR), a research institute that addresses challenges critically
important to modern mining. More than 200 university researchers collaborate
across 27 disciplines on pioneering projects to advance sustainable development
of mineral resources. This institute partners with industry experts around the
globe and has educated professionals in 27 countries to improve management
across the entire mining cycle.
With the expansion and diversification of the
mining industry workforce, trainers have identified a growing need for new and
more versatile training materials.
Toward this end, UA has developed MineSafe, a new platform that is being
used to create “Serious Games" for mine safety education. The objectives
of this platform are three-fold: (1) to elicit critical thinking about mine
safety practices through interactive and contextualized learning; (2) to allow
customization of learning materials for specific audiences, mine methods, and
sites, with a particular emphasis on workplace literacy; and (3) to empower
trainers to evaluate user understanding and decision making through a suite of
integrated evaluation tools.
MineSafe includes several
different training initiatives, each with a different focus. As an example, the
interactive Fatalgram Simulator focuses on fatality prevention by providing a
selection of “minigames” dedicated to teaching the various topics covered in
MSHA Fatalgrams.
Using the MineSafe
platform, the Lowell
Institute for Mineral Resources has developed
Harry's Hard Choices, a
"Serious Game" for mine emergency preparedness.
Based on a paper exercise by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
- NIOSH (Vaught, Hall, & Klein 2009), trainees role-play as a section
foreman who must lead his crew to safety in the face of an unfolding mine
disaster.
Harry's Hard Choices provides an
exciting context for learning that involves fires, lethal gases, explosions,
injuries, failed equipment, ground falls, and crew conflicts. An emergent
storyline responds to players' choices, forcing them to carefully consider each
decision. Game mechanics, such as rewards and penalties, promote replayability
as players strive to improve their scores and get better outcomes.
Additional games are being developed to address
site inspections and hazards recognition learning.
MineSafe represents a new approach
to mining safety education that goes beyond the traditional approach of
seminars and videos. MineSafe has
the capability to place a miner in a simulated environment. Employers will have
a variety of pre-packed scenarios to choose from, or may choose to create their
own in order to further custom-tailor their safety training.
About MineSafe Development Team
The educational program was created in
collaboration with the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health with
funding from Science Foundation Arizona, the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.
The team of inventors includes Mary M. Poulton, who until
recently was a University Distinguished Professor of Geosciences, Mining
Engineering, Law and Public Health, and director of the Lowell Institute for
Mineral Resources; and Leonard Brown, a graduate of the Department of Computer
Science in the College of Science who is now a research scientist at
the Lowell Institute. Michael Peltier, programmer for safety training games for
the Center for Mine Health and
Safety at the Lowell Institute, is serving as the company's chief
programming officer.
Tech Launch Arizona
(TLA), the office of the UA that commercializes inventions stemming from
University research, provided services to facilitate the protection of the
intellectual property, the license of that IP to Desert Saber and the formation
of the company.