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.”

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Serious Game Source writes an article on the seriousness and effectiveness of WILL’s Generation Rx:

“Generation Rx was designed to improve critical thinking, judgment and decision-making, and uses WILL Interactive’s patented VEILS (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations) technology, which the company notes has been proven effective in changing behavior and enhancing positive decision-making.”

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Confronting a national epidemic, interactive program uses familiar video-game technology to reach a tech-savvy teen audience

Potomac, MD: WILL Interactive, Inc., the Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, has created Generation Rx™, an interactive gaming simulation, in collaboration with Kentucky River Community Care, Inc. (KRCC), a private non-profit organization dedicated to mental health. A high-tech “choose-your-own-adventure” program with serious consequences, Generation Rx™ was developed to tackle the devastating national epidemic of prescription and over-the-counter drug abuse among 12-17 year-old youth.
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Sharon is interviewed by Morehead State’s Chuck Mraz on NPR.

Prestigious Peer-Recognition Industry Award for “Hate Comes Home”

Potomac, MD: WILL Interactive, Inc., the Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, has been named a winner at the Software & Information Industry Association’s 21st Annual CODiE Awards for the immersive learning simulation Hate Comes Home in the category of Best Instructional Solution: Social Studies.

Hate Comes Home, created by WILL Interactive, Inc. in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, follows high school students as they navigate such issues as hate crimes, racism, bias and school violence. In use by thousands of middle and high schools across the country, Hate Comes Home gives youth the opportunity to become the lead characters in an interactive movie and make life-altering decisions as one of four high school students who hold the key to stopping a tragic hate crime before it happens.
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Interactive Suicide Intervention Simulation Created with FBI to Train Law Enforcement Community in Sensitive Crisis Negotiations

Washington, D.C.: WILL Interactive, Inc., the Potomac, MD-based leader in virtual experience behavior modification gaming, has developed The Incident 2 – Suicide Intervention with the FBI’s Crisis Negotiations Unit. An interactive gaming simulation, The Incident 2 expands on the fundamental principles of crisis negotiations learned in The Incident, the first interactive program released in 2002 that teamed WILL Interactive with the FBI’s CNU.

A serious learning tool for the law enforcement community, from experienced negotiators to line officers, The Incident 2 puts the user in the chair as the primary negotiator in two separate suicide intervention crises. Designed to improve critical thinking, judgment and decision-making, users role-play and make decisions as the negotiator in high-stakes and stressful crisis situations; they are able to see the consequences of their decisions as they would play out in real life, but in the safety of cyberspace. WILL Interactive’s patented VEILS™ (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations) technology, has been proven effective in changing behavior and enhancing positive decision-making.
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A ‘Sim’ That’s Dead Serious
Army Using Interactive Video to Train
By Jose Antonio Vargas
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 13, 2005

It’s a collection of 260 video clips on two CDs that, in essence, serve as an interactive film of the Iraq war. It represents a small shift in how the military girds its leaders. It’s divided into three phases: pre-deployment (How do you say goodbye to your spouse?); rolling into combat (Do you leave a broken-down ammo truck on the side of the road?); and transition to a post conflict environment (Do you involve the local interpreter in your planning?). There are different possible outcomes for most of the scenarios: Take this road instead of that one, for example, and you’ll lose precious time. For today’s technologically savvy U.S. captain — versed in video games, instant messaging, e-mail — Gator Six is an ideal “sim,” militaryspeak for simulation.

Officers to Train with Interactive Virtual Experience Program

NEW JERSEY:Under commission by the State of New Jersey, Maryland-based PSComm, LLC and WILL Interactive, Inc. have created “The Call”, an educational anti-bias program to help New Jersey police officers improve their critical thinking and decision making skills.

New Jersey State Police selected the patented digital program (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations VEILS®), developed by WILL Interactive, to allow officers to assume roles in real-life law enforcement situations. The particular VEILS® system provides research-based live action, full-motion video to train the officers in recognizing the biases that all human beings have, searching for ways those biases may affect law enforcement decision making processes, and allowing them to experience the consequences of their decisions as they would play out in real life.
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