As part of an initiative to chronicle the health benefits of videogames, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has bestowed over $1.85 million in grants to nine research teams.

RWJF’s Health Games Research program, headquartered at the University of California, Santa Barbara, is backed by $8.25 million in funding from RWJF’s Pioneer Portfolio, which operates under the mantra of supporting “innovative projects that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care.” The grant winners announced today are part of a second round of funding.

Pioneer Portfolio Team Director Paul Tarini stated, “The pace of growth and innovation in digital games is incredible, and we see tremendous potential to design them to help people stay healthy or manage chronic conditions like diabetes or Parkinson’s disease.  However, we need to know more about what works and what does not—and why.”

Research teams were chosen from 185 total proposals and each was awarded between $100,000 and $300,00. The grant winners, and a short synopsis of their field of study, are:

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia - Reward Circuitry, Autism and Games that Teach Social Perceptual Skills
 
• George Washington University - Active-Adventure: Investigating a Novel Exergaming Genre in Inner City School Physical Education Programs

• Georgetown University - Wii Active Exergame Intervention for Low-Income African-American Obese and Overweight Adolescents

• Long Island University - Dance Video Game Training and Falling in Parkinson’s Disease

• Michigan State University - Buddy Up! Harnessing Group Dynamics to Boost Motivation to Exercise

• Michigan State University - Short-Term and Long-Term Effectiveness of Exergames for Young Adults

• Teachers College, Columbia University - Lit: A Game Intervention for Nicotine Smokers

• University of California, San Francisco - A Video Game to Enhance Cognitive Health in Older Adults

• University of Southern California - Robot Motivator: Towards Adaptive Health Games for Productive Long-Term Interaction

With 84 bids down and seven days of auctioning left as I write this, a limited edition Xbox 360 which celebrates the release of The Beatles Rock Band is selling for $7,400 on Ebay.

The sale of the beautifully customized console will benefit Doctors Without Borders. From the auction listing:

Sir Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison personally selected the charity as the beneficiary of these proceeds.

Kotaku reports that the charitable auction is the first in a series.

If the console auction is too rich for your blood, purchasing the DLC bonus track All You Need is Love on Xbox Live (about $2) will help out Doctors Without Borders as well. All proceeds go to the charity an purchasers will be entered into a context to win one of the limited edition consoles as well as a
Rickenbacker 325 replica guitar controller.
 

Last December GamePolitics reported on Pamoja Mtaani, a PC game developed through a partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive, North Carolina-based Virtual Heroes (creators of America's Army) and The Partnership For an HIV-free Generation.

The game's title translates to "Together in the Hood," and Pamoja Mtaani aims to help players learn skills to negotiate difficult issues such as crime and HIV in some of East Africa's most impoverished areas.

GP reader Wai Yen Tang dropped us a line to say that a video report on the game and how it is being used is now available on YouTube.

Beware the Gamers Flu - it could wipe out humanity.

This fictional malady, which breaks out in China and Japan following a game convention, is one of five viral illnesses that can be tackled in The Great Flu, a new online game created by reserachers at the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands.

The Associated Press reports that the object of the game is to prevent a global pandemic:

To fight the emerging outbreak, players use measures including setting up surveillance systems, stockpiling antivirals and vaccines, and closing schools and airports. Players also have a limited budget and are warned that "your actions to control the virus cost money, so keep an eye on it."

A running tally of the numbers of people infected and those who have died sit above the budget. Newspaper stories about the deadly virus and the global response to it — like riots breaking out worldwide — pop up to help players monitor the outbreak.

After a couple of play-throughs, I found The Great Flu to be a real-time strategy affair which is surprisingly enjoyable despite its chilling subject matter. The game challenges players to make difficult, real-world decisions about the timely allocation of healthcare resources when confronted with a potential pandemic. These choices range from relatively inexpensive options such as public information campaigns and distributing face masks, to tougher calls, including massive investments in vaccine or closing schools and airports. One of the game's key lessons - policy makers, take note - is that an aggressive early intervention can save thousands of lives and billions of dollars.

So how did I fare against the Gamers Flu? Not so well. After just a month, 24,000 people had died around the world and there was rioting in the streets of cities along America's East Coast. The great thing about games, however, is that you can always start again.

The Ontario city of Sault Ste. Marie plans to support development of a speech therapy game to the tune of $50,000, according to The Sault Star.

The money from the city's economic development fund will be awarded to Algoma University, which is partnering with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to build a game studio devoted to developing health-oriented games.

Council member Steve Butland called the project "different and darn near cutting edge for Sault Ste. Marie."

The image of the hard-bitten soldier grabbing a post-battle smoke may be a cliche, but it's one that the U.S. Army hopes to change.

To that end, the Texas Medical Center reports that one of its researchers has been awarded $3.7 million grant by the Army to create an anti-smoking video game for military personnel. Alexander Prokhorov, M.D., Ph.D. describes his project:

The tobacco use rates in the Army are alarming – 38 percent of service members smoke cigarettes and 15 percent use smokeless tobacco... Wars boosted the use of tobacco. Research shows tobacco use in the military increased during World War II. We are going to provide ways to help soldiers kick this destructive addiction or resist it in the first place...

The video game-based education program is anything but boring. It provides a highly interactive, engaging and exciting experience.

When the demands of combat duty increase the soldier’s level of pressure and stress, smoking becomes more tempting to both the former smoker and the soldier who has never smoked. The prevention aspect of the game will address this.

At the White House yesterday, President Barack Obama lauded a California non-profit which publishes a PC game designed to help children and teens cope with cancer.

As reported by the San Mateo Daily Journal, Obama recognized HopeLab and its game Re-Mission as an example of the kind of social innovation that is worthy of support from both the public and private sectors. Praising the work of HopeLab and three other non-profits during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, the President said:

If we work together — if we all go all-in here — think about the difference we can make. Think about the impact we could have with just the organizations represented in this room.

A White House press release praised HopeLab and its game:

HopeLab is dedicated to finding solutions that have broad impact, and works closely with tweens, teens and young adults to create fun, innovative products that meet their needs. Among them is Re-Mission, HopeLab's groundbreaking video game for young people with cancer. Data show that that Re-Mission improves treatment adherence and other key health outcomes... HopeLab is also developing products to combat sedentary behavior in children as a way to fight the effects of childhood obesity.

C-SPAN video of the ceremony is available here. More details of the event are available via HopeLab's Twitter account.

Eat lunch at your desk today and catch an important webcast about games and kids.

At Noon the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop will launch a two-hour webcast to coincide with today's release of the organization's report Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children's Learning and Health. From the press release:

The report, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, specifies how increased national investment in research-based digital games might accelerate children’s learning and healthy development.

 

The panel will discuss the Center’s recommendations for the media industry, government, philanthropy and academia to consider for expanding research, development and use of digital games.

Panelists for the webcast include:

• Michael Levine Ph.D., Director, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop  
• Gary E. Knell, President and CEO, Sesame Workshop
• David Abrams, Executive Director, Schroeder Institute at the American Legacy Foundation
• Alan Gershenfeld, Founder and President, E Line Ventures
• Debra Lieberman Ph.D., Director, Health Games Research
• Scot Osterweil, Creative Director, MIT Education Arcade
• Susan Zelman Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) who chairs the Congressional Entertainment Caucus was also invited to serve on the panel but it is unclear whether or not she will appear.

The 5th annual Games For Health Conference formally kicks off tomorrow in Boston.

The conference, which runs through Friday, will feature a "Games Accessibility Day" today, devoted to examing way to make games playable by those with physical and cognitive disabilities.

The main conference agenda which begins on Thursday will feature more than 40 sessions:

Topics include exergaming, physical therapy, disease management, health behavior change, bio-feedback, epidemiology, training, cognitive exercise, nutrition and health education.

The United States Army plans to develop an online virtual support group for soldiers who have lost limbs in combat, reports Virtual World News. The families of the soldiers would also be able to participate in the group.

The idea is still quite preliminary and there is no information available as to what form the virtual support group might eventually take. One could easily imagine, however, an avatar-based system along the lines of Second Life or PlayStation Home.

At this point, the Army is still soliciting proposals for the project on the Federal Business Opportunities website. From the RFP:

Studies have shown that a patients major concern is that of dying alone, either literally or figuratively. The second major concern is that of having unmanaged pain.... quality of life has been much improved by the use of simple support groups...

 

We therefore believe that giving patients and their families access to a virtual support group environment will enable them to have access to a critical resource which they may not be able to be part of in the physical world...

Today brings the launch of an online game created for the California Nurses Association and National Nurses Organizing Committee. 

You Bet Your Health advocates a single-payer healthcare system by highlighting ways in which American citizens can be negatively impacted by the current system of commercially-provided healthcare insurance.

The game is a simple spin-the-wheel affair in which all of the outcomes are bad except when the player lands on a single-payer coverage plan. A press release explains the NNOC/CNA's position:

When American patients trust their health to a for-profit insurance company, they're doing nothing less than gambling with their lives...  The game is part of a wide-ranging public education and political mobilization campaign for single-payer health reforms, which is the choice of nurses and doctors.

This video game... features an everyday patient trying to win healthcare from her insurance company.  In each case, the insurer wins.  Finally, as a bonus round, the patient spins to choose a healthcare system—and is fortunate to land on the single-payer model, which is succeeding in much of the rest of the industrialized world and which has been introduced in Congress as HR 676 (Conyers - MI) and S 703 (Sanders - VT).

Although the NNOC/CNA press release indicates that You Bet Your Health will be ad-supported, there are presently no ads on the game's web page.

The feared swine flu pandemic may be fizzling, but online games based on the H1N1 virus continue to proliferate. Today we'll look at two new offerings.

Based on simple keyboard movement system, Stop Swine Flu requires only that players maneuver their character near others and sneeze. Scoring is based on whether one's germs have infected a child, adult or senior citizen.

The game was commissioned by the Wellcome Trust, which the New York Times points out is the world's second largest charity, right behind The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Daniel Glaser, who heads special projects for the Wellcome Trust, told the NYT:

We did it to engage the older teen audience and teach them that where you sneeze matters. All the science is embedded in a contest that will look familiar to the YouTube generation.

[The idea of the game is] no sicker than Ring Around the Rosy, which is alleged to date from the time of the plague. People have always caught virus and died. I don’t think there’s anything inappropriate about it.

PC Authority points us to the simple-minded Swine Flu: Hamdemic which inexplicably challenges players to hurl pigs across the U.S. - Mexico border.

Registration has opened for the fifth annual Games For Health Conference.

This year's event will be held in Boston on June 11-12.

Nintendo's best-selling Wii console looks to be a hot topic. Of 31 GFH sessions listed so far, 20% are specific to either the Wii or to the Wii-dominated topic of exergaming. These sessions include:

• Using Wii Games to Help Parkinson's Patients
• Capturing Wiimote & Acceleromter Data for Active Gaming Evaluation
• Senior Wii : A Study of Seniors and Wii Exercise
• A Study of Wii Fit Effectiveness
• Criticisms of Exergaming
• Discussion & Best Practices for Implementation for Health Application of Exergames

It's always great to see game tech being to put to use for purposes larger than mere entertainment.

Variety's Cut Scene blog reports that Warner Bros. Interactive will launch a free online game in Kenya designed to teach players about the risks of AIDS as well as how to prevent the spread of the disease.

The five-player game is called Pamoja Mtaani, which translates to Together in the Hood. It will target youth centers in Nairobi and features tunes from local hip-hop musicians. Pamoja Mtaani was developed by North Carolina-based Virtual Heroes, creators of America's Army.

Here's how Warner Bros. describes the game: 

[Pamoja Mtaani] follows five strangers who are brought together through unforeseen circumstances, losing what is most precious to each of them. Working their way through various East African neighborhoods, players must recover the stolen items and help an injured woman on their quest. Along the way, they will experience barriers and facilitators to behavior change through a variety of missions and mini-games.

Pamoja Mtaani is an outgrowth of The Partnership For an HIV-free Generation.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer has pulled out of plans to continue running Viva Cruiser, an advergame designed to promote the company's popular erectile dysfunction drug, Viagra.

According to Multinational Monitor, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) nixed Pfizer's online game which had been appearing on Forbes.com. Viva Cruiser was quietly withdrawn in September:

The video game was pulled shortly after Pfizer removed a video ad from CNN.com, which aired without required warning messages. “The video is misleading because it makes representations and suggestions about the use of Viagra … but fails to disclose any risk information for the drug,” the FDA wrote in its warning letter to Pfizer.

Pharma Industry describes the gameplay aspects of the now-flaccid Viva Cruiser:

Players are instructed, “You’re about to take your partner on a romantic getaway. Pick up a few things on the way.” Players must then guide a motorcycle rider down a desert road picking up gifts for a date and avoiding orange hazard cones. The gifts include roses, scented candles, gift boxes — and of course little, blue, diamond-shaped pills.

As the game progresses, players get points for running over gifts and are penalized for hitting the orange cones. As a stopwatch counts down the available gametime, Pfizer’s “Viva Viagra” theme song can be heard in the background...

(The game isn’t likely to threaten Grand Theft Auto. In only three attempts, I doubled my points from an initially disappointing 27 to a more robust 47.)

The Orlando Sentinel reports on the development of Burn Center by 360Ed, a local startup. The training game is designed to teach medical professionals who are not burn experts to deal with mass casualties from an event such as an explosion

The Sentinel notes that 360Ed partnered with the University of Florida College of Medicine and the Florida Department of Health on the project. 360Ed CEO Ben Noel, formerly of Electronic Arts:

September 11 awakened us to the fact that we have to prepare for these mass-casualty type of events, and the best way to prepare is modern technology, simulation and games. Instead of simulating it in a field experience, which can be very expensive, we are simulating it on a computer, which can be played over and over...

 

They said, 'If we give you a playbook, can you make like a Madden football for mass-casualty emergency response?' I said, 'Yeah, we aren't creating any new technology here; we'd just be taking content to places it hasn't been before.'

As the game begins, players are told that bombs have just exploded at a theme park:

The first phase is a race against time in which the player has to quickly assess and triage 40 victims. The second phase takes place in the intensive-care unit, where players make treatment decisions during a simulated 36-hour period. To get training certification from the American Burn Association, players must reach a certain score.

 

Burn Center isn't for the faint of heart. The game features screaming people, many of whom have gruesome burns and are covered in blood. In fact, some of the 360Ed team had a hard time looking at the real photos provided by UF to ensure the graphics in the game were realistic.

Although controversial radio host Michael Savage may believe that autism is a product of poor parenting, well-informed people know better.

Now, a Maryland firm, Vision Audio, has created EASe Off-Road, game software designed to help autistic children deal with hypersensitivity to sound.

As reported by the Bucks County Courier-Times:

Some children with the brain disorder react to sound in a hypersensitive manner, and others become defensive and appear deaf.

 

[The game uses] sound-based therapy by training the child to develop visual systems responsible for organizing balance and body awareness.

 

The game includes driving, jumping over hills, crashing into trees, and flying off cliffs. Tracking moving targets challenges a child's eye movement and encourages the child to concentrate.

The "medicinal" use of video games is growing, according to the Associated Press.

The AP details research done by Carmen Russoniello of East Carolina University, who is attempting to measure whether sickle cell anemia patients can manage pain and stress by playing video games. Russoniello tod the AP:

Ten years ago, they would have laughed me out of that place. But there's an acceptance of things. (Video games) aren't panaceas but they have their place and we need to find where that place is.... The kicker was the EEG; we found brain waves that were consistent with improved mood. That gets people's attention. They can't say anymore, 'That's nice, but how do you know?

Gail Nichols, 48, who suffers from severe depression, said she has been self-medicating with video games for years:

If I get stressed out, my service dog is there with me. I'll pull (the game) out of her pack and between her being there with me and sitting there playing the game I won't be so nervous about people around me. I would hope the medical community will add this to their bag of tricks.

GP: Children's hospitals have long recognized the value of video games in making their young patients more comfortable. Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity and the Get Well Gamers Foundation have supported such efforts for years.

CNBC will air Playing to Win at 10 p.m. Eastern tonight.

The show features a look at the video game violence issue, a trip inside EA, a segment on Games for Health and more.

If you miss it, Playing to Win will be repeated on Sunday at 9 p.m.

Hot Coffee it most definitely is not.

As reported by Joystiq, the University of Connecticut is soliciting proposals for a "safer sex video game."

According to UConn bid specs, the goal of the project is "to test the feasibility of using a PC-executable game (non-Flash) format to change the safe sex practices of an otherwise hard to reach group – urban emerging adults."

The University wants vendors to make the game "fun, motivating, and efficacious." That last one's not a dirty word, by the way.

If trials are successful - and no, GP does not know where you go to volunteer - the game will be distributed "broadly." As Joystiq notes, Europeans are already ahead of us in using game tech to teach safe sex.

Proposals from game developers are due back to UConn officials in November.