CFP: Games for Health 2010

Ben Sawyer over at Digitalmill has released the CFP for this year’s Games for Health conference. Complete details, including an online form for presenters to fill out, are here.

The 2010 Games for Health conference is set to be held on May 26-27 in Boston, MA. Pre-conference events on mobile games, games accessibility, and virtual worlds will take part on May 25.

Our call for content is now officially open. Please fill out the form below for each session you wish to submit.

All speakers receive free entry to the conference and all related events but no other compensation.

>>>DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSIONS<<<
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Our call for content has multiple deadlines with the first being December 31, 2009. DO NOT DELAY!!!!!

The sooner you provide your submission the better your chances for selection as space fills up and our we have a limited number of spots.

>>December 31, 2009 Deadline
All content received by December 31, 2009 will be considered for acceptance by February 1, 2010.

>>January 22, 2010 Deadline
All content received by January 22, 2010 will be considered for any remaining openings by March 1, 2010.

After January 22, 2010 all content received thereafter will be considered as space remains in the program.

March 15, 2010 : Peer Reviewed Proceedings & Poster Session Deadline
All content for peer-reviewed proceedings and poster sessions (see below) must be submitted no later then March 15, 2010. Final drafts of all proceedings and poster session work must be done by April 15, 2010.

*****SPECIAL NOTE: PEER REVIEW OPPORTUNITIES*****
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We are considering including peer-reviewed presentations and posters at this year’s conference. While not required, we will make our final decision based on number of submissions. If you wish to have your submission considered for peer-review, indicate that on the form below. All submissions are non-exclusive, meaning you can submit them for publishing elsewhere.
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++++CONFERENCE STRUCTURE++++
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The main Games for Health Conference program takes place over two-days on May 26-27, 2010. These two days are divided into five simultaneous tracks, a poster session, exhibits, and special topic rooms. The conference ALSO includes pre-conference events taking place on Tuesday May 25, 2010.

You will be asked to designate your submission to any or all of these to help us identify where your submission will best fit our program

***PRE-CONFERENCES***

>>Games Accessibility Day (Tuesday May 25, 2010)
All things dealing with making games more accessible to people with disabilities and using games and game technologies to improve the lives of people with temporary, acquired, chronic, or life-long disabilities.

>>Virtual Worlds in Health (Tuesday May 25, 2010)
Anything dealing with multiplayer online games/social worlds/etc. that is aiding in health/healthcare is focused on here.

>>Serious Games Mobile (Health Track) (Tuesday May 25, 2010)
This is a two track event exploring serious games on mobile and handheld platforms. This event features a health specific track while the remaining track looks at many other sector applications. Our hope is also for mobile health content to be featured during the main conference as part of our expo areas and in specially highlight panel discussion.

Submission to a pre-conference does not exclude the opportunity to present your work to the full conference. However, work in these areas will get strong consideration for these specific events.

***MAIN CONFERENCE TRACKS***
The main Games for Health Conference features five tracks of simultaneously presented content. Two of the tracks each day are open content. Three tracks each day are dedicated to specific domains and are lead by recognized community leaders in those fields.

These tracks are as follows:

>>Active Gaming Track
Held both Wednesday May 26 and Thursday May 27)

>>Cognitive Health with Games Track Powered by SharpBrains
Held both Wednesday May 26 and Thursday May 27

>>PT/Rehab Track
Held Wednesday May 26 only

>>Medical Modeling/Education & Simulation with Games Track
Held Thursday May 27 only

The two remaining tracks are open content. If you want to be specifically considered for promotion within any of these tracks please check the proper box during submission.

FURTHER QUESTIONS
If you have any further questions please contact gfh2010 at gamesforhealth.org with your request(s).

New Review of Lit on Games for Health & PE

Marina Papastergiou, over at University of Thessaly in Greece, has a nice review of the literature this month in Computers & Education. Here’s the key portion of her abstract that is most intriguing:

The overviewed articles suggest that electronic games present many potential benefits as educational tools for HE and PE, and that those games may improve young people’s knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours in relation to health and physical exercise. Furthermore, the newly emerged physically interactive electronic games can potentially enhance young people’s physical fitness, motor skills and motivation for physical exercise. The empirical evidence to support the educational effectiveness of electronic games in HE and PE is still rather limited, but the findings present a positive picture overall.

Click here for the ACM Portal link.

References
Papastergiou, M. (2009). Exploring the potential of computer and video games for health and physical education: A literature review. Computers & Education 53(3) 603-622.

Fighting Cystic Fibrosis: Foundation Grants Fund Games for Health

Michael Thompson over at Ars Technica reports on grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that are funding games for health initiatives. In particular, Thompson reports the University of Vermont School of Medicine received almost $190,000 for a videogame to help Cystic Fibrosis patients. Dr. Peter Bingham is spearheading the grant.

An early form of Bingham’s game used teenagers with Cystic Fibrosis as test subjects; it had them using their breath to control the vertical position of an icon, with the goal of keeping the icon on a curvy road that scrolled by. While the game is a bit simplistic, Bingham is hoping to make it more elaborate with the help of the [Champlain College] Emergent Media Center team. “We know that eye-hand coordination can be improved by playing video games, but eye-breath coordination is something new,” Bingham stated. “With the help of some very creative patients with CF, we hope to devise a completely new kind of game that helps kids to connect with each other about breathing and puts CF patients more in charge of their own health.”

Thompson says the second round of funding from the foundation will bring its total funding toward games for health grants to $2 million. A new CFP will go out in January 2009.

References:
Thompson, M. (2008, June 25). Games for Health program explores gaming-fitness connection. Ars Technica. [Online.] Available: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080625-
health-foundation-provides-grant-money-to-game-study.html

Interesting Sessions at Games for Health, 2008

Games for Health, 2008 will be held May 8-9 in Baltimore. Here are some of the sessions I found particularly interesting:

A Randomized Controlled Study of the Effectiveness of Casual Video Games in Reducing Stress and Improving Mood
Carmen Russoniello, Eastern Carolina University

Should “Videogame Addiction” be in DSM-V?
Jack Kuo, Promises Treatment Centers

The World of Warcraft Blood Disease : Epidemiological Observations and Findings
Nina Fefferman, Tufts University

PDwii: Using Novel Interfaces to Promote Physical Rehabilitation & Achieve Quantifiable Results
Red Hill Studios

The one by Fefferman on the WoW disease will be intriguing because it will attempt to show how dynamic virtual environments can represent RL phenomena. I’ve covered Wii-hab, stress reduction, and the question of including videogame “addiction” in DSM-V here. (In a word, the answer to this question is, “No.”)

There are many more sessions, and all of them look inviting. The Games for Health conference is always chock full of good content, and this year will be no exception.

CFP: Games for Health, 2008

The Games for Health Conference 2008 will be held May 8-9 in Baltimore. Registration is now open. Ben Sawyer put out a call for content on the Serious Games listserv, a copy of which is online over at Education Spree, which posts chatter from the Second Life Educators (SLED) listserv.

Several interesting topics are noted in Ben’s call, including using virtual worlds for health, the nascent field of cyberpsychology, exergaming, and virtual patients. Games for Health is a subsidiary project of the Serious Games Initiative, which is backed by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. This marks the fourth year for the Games for Health Conference.