A new Businessweek Online article has dealt, in depth, with the development of a new serious game entitled
Pulse!!, a virtual, clinical-training tool for medical and nursing students that plays much like popular first-person shooters for the PC.
The $7.5 million medical training project, which will eventually be marketed towards educational institutions as a PC-based training tool, is being funded by the Office of Naval Research, and is designed by noted 'serious game' developer BreakAway, which has experience developing simulations for the U.S. Military and emergency response teams.
According to the article,
Pulse!! is played much like any other popular first-person shooter, with students taking on the role of a health-care provider who must diagnose problems of patents under their care. BreakAway also taped re-enactments of people in the hospital using real-life medical staff and students as actors, and used motion-capture equipment in order to ensure that the gameplay experience and environment were as close to realistic as possible.
At this stage in the project's development players are simply tasked with diagnosing the patient's problems based on his outward symptoms. However, the article describes the work that BreakAway will soon undertake as development continues, such as detailed renderings of the human body, including highly textured skin that depresses when touched.
More information on the 'serious game' title, including quotes from those involved, is available by reading
the full BusinessWeek Online story on the matter.
