Ontario Provides Funding For Algoma University Serious Games

Algoma Games for Health, a development team at Algoma University that designs serious games for education and rehabilitation, has received provincial funding for developing a game that will help stroke victims. The team has received $713,200 in order to develop the rehabilitation program at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre, revealed MPP David Orazietti. The program will concentrate on combining video conferencing, voice recognition and therapeutic video games to provide an online platform to help improve speech therapy. "We are continuing to build on the progress we have made improving health care infrastructure and front-line services in Sault Ste. Marie by making investments that are delivering measurable results, including this initiative that will provide stoke victims with interactive rehabilitation therapy to help improve their quality of life," said Orazietti. Tom Vair, executive director of the Sault Ste Marie Innovation Centre, noted, "This significant funding from the province’s NOHFC will enable Algoma Games for Health to build on their momentum and take this product to the next level." Last month, a team of undergraduates at Rice University in Texas announced that they have devised a computerized motion-tracking system that uses Wii Balance Boards as a cost-effective method of physical therapy.