WILL Interactive CEO Sharon Sloane talks about the “serious games” WILL uses to train business leaders and military personnel.

You can listen to the episode here.

by Tom Urtz
as published in eHealthcare Strategy & Trends

Every marketer’s playbook includes a chapter on customer service.

Remind the public of your philosophy. Recount warm deeds. Highlight delighted patients. And if the satisfaction rating agencies have good things to say, consider going public with the data.

On the tactical front, these moves are all appropriate. But step back and ask the bigger question. Does your organization have a strategy to improve customer service beyond the oft-repeated nostrums of treating patients like family and playing nice with co-workers?

Washington (DC) Hospital Center has one. Count on others to follow its lead.

Mark Smith, MD, chairman of emergency medicine at the 926-bed hospital, sat through a screening of Hate Comes Home,an intense, interactive DVD aimed at overcoming prejudice among high school students. Actors create the environment, then viewers are presented with a series of on-screen choices. How they respond at critical points dictates how the story unfolds.

“I could tell it worked because I had tears in my eyes,” says Smith.

Moved by the power of the tool, he met with James F. Caldas, president of Washington Hospital Center, urging him to subscribe to the same immersion approach to customer service.

Caldas agreed, and the hospital engaged Potomac, MD-based WILL Interactive, Inc., the creator of Hate Comes Home,to develop a hospital-specific video program to expose employees to the consequences – good and otherwise – of their choices. The result is The Anatomy of Care,a dramatic portrayal of life in a hospital, where viewers make choices and witness the responses.
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Serious Games Source and Gamasutra have both reposted CEO Sharon Sloane’s recent opinion piece about the current debate over the Columbine RPG.

Recent controversy surrounding this year’s Slamdance Guerrilla Gamemaker Competition and the Super Columbine Massacre Role Playing Game incited a debate and raised important questions. The commotion has subsided, but we will see this debate return because games, and more accurately, “serious games” are exploring a much greater range of topics. As a result, a serious game will soon hit a collective nerve again, causing us to ask, does this cross a line, and just what is a serious game anyway?

Read Sharon’s opinion piece here at Serious Games Source and Gamasutra.

Serious Games Source has also written a brief article about our recent grant award from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield:

Hate Comes Home begins with a homecoming dance that is cut short when two students are killed in a hate crime committed by other students. In the game, the player must navigate through a series of decisions to reach a peaceful outcome. INO2, on the other hand, is designed to help 11 - 17-year-olds make educated choices about alcohol and other drugs by placing them in a series of potentially compromising situations.

Read the full article here.

Potomac, MD: WILL Interactive, Inc., the Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming and recipient of the National Training and Simulation Association (NTSA) ‘2006 Best Serious Game’ award, in partnership with the Public Charter School Student Support Center (SSC), known for their work in substance abuse and violence prevention in urban schools serving high-risk youth, announced the receipt of a grant from CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield. The grant will be used to address school violence in five Washington, D.C. schools by introducing an education program that will utilize WILL Interactive’s serious games, Hate Comes Home and Interactive Nights Out 2™ (INO2™). Included within the grant will be a license for each school to continue using Hate Comes Home and Interactive Nights Out 2 after the initial education program is completed.

“We are excited to work with CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield to take a decisive step in addressing the important issue of school violence,” said Sharon Sloane, CEO WILL Interactive, Inc. “WILL Interactive’s serious game learning tools, Hate Comes Home and Interactive Nights Out 2, instruct in a unique, highly engaging medium attractive to the video game generation. The software will be instrumental in the success of this program in teaching students how to think rather than what to think.”
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WILL Interactive, Inc. and Washington Hospital Center Collaborate on
New Simulation Learning Game, “Anatomy of Care”

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 28, 2007 – Potomac, Md.-based WILL Interactive, Inc., a leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, is partnering with Washington Hospital Center, the largest hospital in the District of Columbia, to create a Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation® (VEILS®) addressing the critical area of customer care for hospital staff.

“Anatomy of Care is a proactive and effective tool to help today’s hospitals enhance customer care, the ambiance of caring that is the foundation for patients and their families at a time of need,” said Sharon Sloane, CEO of WILL Interactive. “WILL is pleased to have created this simulation training in partnership with Washington Hospital Center.”

Anatomy of Care is designed to educate all hospital staff from doctors to nurses, clerical staff to patient transporters and environmental services employees, as it demonstrates how their actions affect patient care and the overall image of a hospital.
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After a Months-Long Evaluation Process, Luminaries from Industry, Academia and Government Named Gator Six ’Best Serious Game’ During the Serious Game Showcase & Challenge at I/ITSEC 2006

December 14, 2006 - Orlando, FL: WILL Interactive, Inc., Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, won the ‘Best Serious Game’ award from the National Training and Simulation Association for its groundbreaking serious game, Gator Six, Battery Command Virtual Experience. After being evaluated by more than 30 luminaries from industry, academia and various government sectors on their Serious Game-ness, Technical Quality, and Playability/Usability, WILL Interactive, Inc.’s Gator Six was selected as the top serious game at the 2006 Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC).

The next generation software uses WILL Interactive, Inc.’s VEILS® (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation) technology which is a cross between a video game and a feature film that enables users to role play multi-dimensional lead characters in live action, research-based interactive movies that depict real-life decisions and consequences. Gator Six deals with many of the critical issues U.S. soldiers face today. It addresses pre-deployment, combat, and stability operations, and covers issues such as leadership, decision-making, diplomacy, enemy fire, family life, and even a death in the unit. Content for Gator Six is based on the experiences and advice of U.S. Army officers who have returned from Iraq.
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Serious Game Source announces the winners of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge, which includes WILL Interactive’s own Gator Six.

“Taking the award for “Best Serious Game” was WILL Interactive’s Gator Six, Battery Command Virtual Experience, a Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation (VEILS) where the player is placed in the role of an Army Field Artillery Captain as the lead character in an interactive movie.”

Read the full article

Sharon’s interview on WFED Radio.

The Lexington Herald-Leader writes an article about WILL’s Generation Rx:

“Prescription drug abuse, a major problem in Eastern Kentucky, has now become a national public health issue, Mathews said.

‘Through this new interactive program, we now hope to lead the nation in demonstrating a new way to involve teenagers in avoiding future drug abuse,’ he said. ‘We’re dealing with a video-game generation.’”

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Yahoo! Tech writes an article about video games that teach kids life-changing lessons including WILL’s Generation Rx in its list of serious games:

“It’s not just about shoot ‘em ups, though. It’s called decision training, and Will Interactive takes the gameplay a step further by using real actors and movie scenarios in its games such as Generation RX. Generation RX deals with the growing problem of teenagers who abuse prescription drugs. Kids watch a story unfold and reach critical decision points. Based on those decisions, the story moves along, with kids exploring the various consequences.”

Read the article