The Serious
Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C) celebrates the use of games and game technology as a
delivery medium for instructional material. The Challenge welcomes industry,
government, and student developers of Serious Games that target general
audience or government specific learning needs.
After a
rigorous evaluation, the top entries from all received are selected as
finalists and invited to showcase their games on the exhibit floor during
I/ITSEC. A second round of evaluations from worldwide industry experts determines
the award winners for the following categories:
- Best General Audience Game
- Best Government Audience Game
- Best Student Developed Game
- Best Serious Game Innovation
- Best XR Game
- Students’ Choice
Awards are
presented at I/ITSEC to recognize this prestigious accomplishment PLUS an
additional award is selected by all I/ITSEC attendees via ballots for the "People's
Choice Award" – the serious game attendees deem the Best of Show.
HERE ARE THIS
YEAR'S GOVERNMENT AUDIENCE FINALISTS:
Mage Duel by Tutorworks Inc.
Subject: Language Learning
Mage Duel exists to support military linguists and anyone else seeking to master communicative competency in a new language.
Military
linguists in the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC)
train in an intensive environment and are expected to learn and master hundreds
of new words and phrases daily. As language analysts, they struggle for years
to achieve the right balance of speed and accuracy in their translation work. Mage Duel solves this critical problem
and provides USAF and DoD linguists with a cradle to grave solution for
vocabulary acquisition and translation competency to complement their formal
language study.
Mage Duel is a Serious
Game aided by bleeding edge technologies, including the use of a natural
language processing approach or NLP grounded in sound language acquisition
pedagogy. Players must use their revolving word magic to navigate complex
challenges, duel with mages and win quests. Mage Duel builds both receptive and productive language knowledge
by developing phonological, semantic, and context discrimination skills.
The game
features timed language production activities that build language fluency,
accuracy, and complexity, while rewarding the learner for semantic similarity
rather than exact formal language equivalence. Mage Duel currently includes one multilingual semantic similarity
engine and is built for expansion. This state-of-the-art, deep neural
network-based model powers the language production activity. This means that
the players in-game language inputs are evaluated based on meaning, which
mirrors the way humans naturally acquire language skills.
Extend the Shield by TiER1 Performance
Subject: Ship Communications
Extend the Shield provides trainees with an opportunity to establish a network of assets (i.e., ships, aircraft) that includes sensors, communication capabilities, and weapons. The trainee places these assets in varying configurations, while considering the benefits and weaknesses.
As an example
scenario, an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system is well
equipped with sensors, enabling a long line of sight to enemy ships and
aircraft. The AEW&C also provides a communications relay but does not
possess firing capabilities. In contrast, a naval warship carries many weapons,
but has a low line-of-sight visibility. Fighter jets have limited sensor
capabilities, limited weapons, and communications abilities. Given a set of
assets with these particular strengths and weaknesses, trainees are asked to
position the equipment in a configuration that maximizes benefits while minimizing
weaknesses.
When users
work with the Extend the Shield
training, they are guided through a set of missions that gradually increase in
difficulty. The first missions just focus on moving and firing
capabilities. Once the trainee has
developed some fluency in this interaction, the missions become more complex.
Sensors are added in for line of sight. Then communications capabilities are
included. Finally, different types of assets are added to the missions.
Advanced Haptics Burn Care Escharotomy by Engineering
& Computer Simulations, Inc. (ECS)
Subject: Escharotomy surgical procedure
Get hands-on
with medical training that you can actually feel to save a patient from losing
life and limb with an emergency surgery.
This game
places the learner in the setting of a combat support hospital, presented with
a patient with a full circumferential burn on their leg who has been prepared
for an escharotomy, which is a surgical procedure that is done to relieve
pressure in the torso or a limb that is caused by an eschar, a thickening of
the skin that develops due to a burn and can cause significant swelling.
The learner
can complete the scenario either in single player or as a shared experience
with a remote instructor using a tele-teaching model. At the start of the
scenario, the learner can watch an example of a real-life escharotomy being
performed on a video interface in the scene. The player is able to check off
each task to complete the procedure to save the patient’s leg. Throughout the
scenario, the system assesses the completion of each step, and provides the
learner with a summary of their results at the end.
Army Fuel Digital Training Environments by Potawatomi
Training, Army U, CASCOM
Subject: Petroleum Specialist 92F10 MOS
The Army Fuel Digital Training Environment
provides a simulation for soldiers to assemble, operate and maintain fueling
Systems.
The goal of
the Serious Game is to provide real world scenarios that will help reinforce
familiarity with army fueling systems through scaling difficulty game modes.
Procurify by Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army – Procurement
Subject: Government Procurement Process
The Government
procurement process of acquiring goods and services is vital; however, it is
not an exciting subject to teach and train. Developed by the Army Game Studio, Procurify, an innovative, interactive
procurement game, utilizes game-based training technology allowing U.S. Army
Contracting professionals to learn the procurement process without the risk of
making mistakes on a real contract. The goal of the training application is to
supplement current training programs, providing contracting professionals
valuable experience in a safe learning environment. The proponent for the
application is the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for
Procurement.
Procurify
introduces gamified interactive learning as an alternative to traditional
lecture style training. During the 30-minute Procurify training module, Contract Specialists, are given
simulated scenarios and situations based on real-life events and asked how to
respond. This style of learning forces a deeper knowledge of the materials as
Contract Specialists apply contracting knowledge to the simulated scenarios
learning the procurement process.
Virtual Reality Simulated Delirium Environment
(VRSDE) by Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration,
Institute for Learning, Education and Development
Subject: Delirium Characteristics
The Virtual Reality Simulated Delirium
Environment (VRSDE) iOS application provides a training product to
physicians and Allied Health professionals who provide elder care and emergency
care for Veterans experiencing delirium. The firsthand virtual (visual, audial,
and haptic) delirium experience will engender empathy in healthcare
professionals and provide experiential learning in the treatment of delirium.
Learners will be able to recognize the symptoms of delirium from a patient
point of view, the type of limitations associated with a symptom of delirium,
evaluate a person for delirium, classify the type of delirium symptom a person
exhibits as hypoactive, hyperactive, or mixed, and conclude with managing the
behavior of a person suffering from delirium using non-pharmacological
interventions.
vTC3 by Real Response
Subject: Tactical Combat Casualty Care
vTC3 teaches army
medics about decision making when providing casualty care during combat. The Serious
Game uses VR on a standalone headset to immerse learners in a combat casualty
care experience, where they must provide care under fire, tactical field care, and
tactical evacuation care. Advanced biometrics track the users stress
throughout gameplay, allowing customized experiences for each learner depending
on stress levels, as well as advanced analytics at the end of the game which
aligns stress levels with the decisions made.