The central message—that prevention of health-care associated infection is everyone’s responsibility—is consistently reinforced.The components of an effective programme (ie, constant awareness, an integrated and committed team, leadership, effective communication, accountability, and appropriate use of evidence) are presented in a compelling and accessible story.

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Overall, this video is a useful and entertaining introduction to the complexity of prevention of health- care-acquired infection and control, and could be especially helpful for individuals outside the practice of infection control.

You can read the full article (subscription required) here.

Are you a school administrator interested in teaching children about the hazards of cyber bullying? An airline employee looking to educate your passengers in terms of safer air travel? An Army colonel hoping to ease the re-integration process for soldiers returning from war? These are just a few of many possibilities Sharon Sloane, WILL Interactive’s President and CEO, envisions for this contest.

“We want to cast a really wide net and find out what the public or organizations that we haven’t worked with are thinking about with regard to ways that WILL’s simulations could improve society,” Sloane said.

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Basically, they are asking for people to submit ideas for a full-blown educational simulation that, if deployed, would have a positive social impact. WILL will then pick one of the submissions and create and distribute it.

Frankly, if almost any other sim company offered this, I would be less excited.

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The winner of the Challenge will have the unique opportunity to select the subject matter and help guide the creation of an interactive simulation. The finished program will be distributed nationally to address an issue of major societal importance in an effort to create real, sustainable change. The competition is open to applications from all organizations and individuals through April 20, 2012. Learn about the Challenge.

WILL’s business philosophy—”doing well by doing good”—motivates its desire to create positive social change through the use of its Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations (VEILS®). The Challenge is an opportunity to engage the public in order to improve the world, while raising awareness of how impactful interactive simulations can be in positively influencing attitudes and behaviors/actions.

“Since 1998, we have been using VEILS® to help many organizations address issues that affect their operations and their people. Now we have the opportunity, for the first time, to throw open the doors and ask the general public to tell us what societal issue should be addressed,” said Sharon Sloane, President and CEO of WILL Interactive. “We are excited to make a difference in such a public manner, and to invite a new audience to understand the power of simulations that allow individuals to play out real-world scenarios before they live them out.”

VEILS® is an immersive technology that harnesses the engaging characteristics of game-based video simulations to capture the attention of individuals at a level that leads them to positive action. In VEILS®, users become the lead characters in an interactive movie simulation. They make decisions, see consequences of their choices, alter storylines and experience outcomes.

In use by millions of students, law enforcement personnel, soldiers, healthcare professionals and executives across thousands of schools, organizations, and all branches of the military, VEILS® have helped reduce instances of military suicide, educated youth about the dangers of drugs and the importance of responsible cell phone use, and assisted thousands of homeowners in avoiding foreclosure. Access demo versions of existing simulations.

HOW DOES THE CHALLENGE WORK?

To enter the Challenge, Entrants are required to submit by April 20, 2012 a proposal that contains contact information, a socially relevant learning objective, an explanation of the social issue and why the Entrant believes a serious game simulation will help address/combat the problem, a description of the target audience description, a brief marketing and distribution plan, and organizational/biographical information about the Entrant. Download the Official Rules.

Once the application process is closed, WILL’s team will select the five most qualified applications to be put forward for a public vote that will be hosted through WILL’s website and Facebook pages, and will be factored into the final decision.

The winner of this Challenge will have the social issue identified in their entry addressed through the development of a VEILS® game-based video simulation, and will receive, at no cost, the perpetual right to use the simulation. WILL Interactive will absorb all product development costs (approximate value = $500,000) to develop the VEILS® simulation, which will be distributed nationally through the joint efforts of the winner and WILL.

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High-resolution images from WILL’s existing simulations are available for download.

About WILL Interactive: Potomac, Md.-based WILL Interactive, the nation’s most experienced and most awarded developer of computer-based video training simulations, has produced 70 VEILS® and won numerous learning, media, and technology awards since its founding in 1994. WILL’s clients and partners are among the nation’s most respected organizations, including every branch of the U.S. military, the National Football League, Verizon, MedStar Health, the FBI, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fannie Mae, McGraw-Hill, and thousands of schools and universities across the country.

“I’ve seen it in both the middle and high school,” Sturtevant said. “Pictures of students in compromising positions, or in clothes that are more revealing than they should be, where the student themselves sent it or someone else takes it and sends it.”

She said that in some cases, the emotional torture has caused real damage to students she has counseled.

But there is a growing arsenal of strategies, policies and now an online video game of sorts designed to show the consequences of bad decisions when it comes to texting, sexting, or sending explicit photos.

In the game titled It’s Your Call, a 14-year-old girl runs through several temptations with her cell phone ,including the pressure from a popular senior to text him an explicit photo of herself. The player is given three options. First, tell him no. Second, stall while you decide. Or third, send it because he’s worth it.

Read the full article here.

So far WILL has produced about 20 movies the Army focusing on safety, post-traumatic stress, combat operational stress, compassion fatigue, suicide prevention, and ethical decision-making.
During the experience the viewer has the opportunity to change a character’s fate by making simple choices along the way. Courtesy photoAt this year’s GI Film Festival, WILL Interactive premiered The War Inside, a film designed for Army-wide distribution as a cornerstone for their soldier behavioral health and post traumatic stress education program.
The War Inside sheds light on the psychological challenges of coming home with combat stress and the toll it takes on individuals, families, and society. The viewer plays as one of four different characters connected to a platoon that has just returned from combat. Each character explores the challenges of coming home.

You can read the full story here.

Safety is paramount for soldiers in combat zones. But Tuesday soldiers got a peek at the newest method of delivery for that message when soldiers are off duty – “Off Duty On Guard” an interactive video experience designed to teach soldiers the importance of safety while off duty.

The message is delivered through six video vignettes in a choose your own adventure style format.

“It’s a Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation,” said Sharon Sloane, president and CEO of WILL Interactive Inc., which made the video. “It blends the elements of a feature film and a video game.”

 

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A new Army safety training program earned rave reviews here Tuesday during a special presentation at the Aerial Delivery and Field Services Department auditorium.

The safety presentation, titled “Off Duty, On Guard,” combines video vignettes and innovative software called “VEILS” (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation) to allow the audience to actively participate in the training. “Basically, the viewer selects a character from one of the video segments, and he or she becomes that person,” explained Charles Betoney, the project manager from the TRADOC Safety Office at Fort Monroe.

“That’s the real power of this thing,” he added. “You’re part of the story and you control what happens. It’s goes beyond a cognitive experience ” it elicits emotion and a sense of personal involvement.”

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WILL also showed a new program as part of the festival:

Among the more unusual films is an interactive documentary short called “The War Inside” that allows viewers to play characters and change the course of the plot. The film is intended to be used in therapy for service members and their families dealing with post traumatic stress and other emotional struggles associated with life after deployment. During the screening, audience members will be given hand-held devices that will allow them to vote for how characters should respond in certain situations.

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