Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

Mason hosts international symposium on digital therapeutics

Shayla Brown — Tue, 22 Nov 2022 19:17:34 +0000

Mason hosts international symposium on digital therapeutics Shayla Brown Tue, 11/22/2022 - 14:17

In This Story

Q&A Panel at the International Symposium on Digital Therapeutics. Photo by Shayla Brown

George Mason University's Computer Game Design Program and Mason Korea partner NC Soft hosted a symposium at Mason Square earlier this month to advance the development and use of Digital Therapeutics.

Digital Therapeutics, also known as DTx, is an emerging type of evidence-based medical therapy that uses qualified software programs to prevent, manage, or treat medical conditions.

DTx products in development or already on the market can help treat diabetes, provide oncology treatment and management, and address neuropsychiatric disorders including anxiety, depression, and substance use disorder, said John P. Doran, a Mason Korea computer game design instructor.

Virginia Serious Game Institute (VSGI), under the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), is a major force for interdisciplinary research on DTx that aims to support the entrepreneurial goals of students through serious game technology. Their motto for DTx is “games for good.”

The symposium welcomed many guests who use DTx in their respective medical and/or software development fields. Speakers touched on an array of topics regarding the pros and cons of utilizing DTx.

“We’re always looking forward to expanding those international partners, which is another reason why I’m so excited about the symposium,” said Amarda Shehu, a professor in the department of computer science and associate vice president of research for the Institute of Digital Innovation (IDIA) in her opening remarks.

Regulation is an important consideration for these types of treatments.

“If you open up your phone and put in ‘addiction treatment’ or ‘addiction recovery’ in the search box of your app store, you’ll find dozens or possibly even several hundreds of applications… but how many of these applications do you think are actually regulated?” said Stacie Gutowski, a National Institutes of Health (NIH) program officer at the Office of Translational Initiatives and Program Innovations under the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Gutowski noted that there are only two FDA cleared apps for substance abuse disorder, funded by the NIDA.

“While there is a lot of optimism about the [financial] growth of digital therapeutics, it is important to note that its true goal is to help other people,” said Doran.

“Due to the fact that DTx can track patients' actions and interactions while they’re using the products, a DTx can be tweaked and customized very easily,” said Doran. “In this way, DTx can be more flexible than many other types of treatment methods, which address a patients’ individual needs.”

There are still some challenges to DTx that have to be addressed as well, such as patient data privacy and sharing, said Stephen Varga, MD, director of trauma education and simulation at Inova Fairfax Hospital and assistant professor of medical education at University of Virginia School of Medicine.

“These are all things that are going to pose challenges when you present these digital health options to physicians as how you’re going to protect the patient’s identity moving forward,” Varga said.

“In just a few short years, DTx has become an exciting, creative, and competitive new field and frontier. We’re also seeing more openness to DTx being covered by various health plans,” said Doran. “As pandemic anxiety and depression continue to harm people’s mental health, DTx are more important than ever before.”

Topics

Mason Square

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

TTIP

Tech Talent Investment Program

Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA)

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Gamifying everything from history to pain management

Colleen Rich — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 17:45:29 +0000

Gamifying everything from history to pain management Colleen Rich Wed, 09/07/2022 - 13:45

In This Story

Sang Nam

Sang Nam. Photo provided

Sang Nam, the director of Computer Game Design Program in George Mason University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, doesn’t just make games for entertainment, he’s on a mission to make a difference.

Nam has been selected as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar, which lasts for four years.

Ying-Ying Kuo, a fellow Fulbright Specialist and a former Mason instructional designer and learning analyst, thought Nam would be a perfect candidate when asked to recommend someone for the assignment.

"I referred Sang to the Fulbright Specialist program because he was the best person to conduct this project,” said Kuo. Nam applied specifically for the assignment in Tunisia, for which he was selected.

He has been working with game designers and developers in Tunis, Tunisia. The organization that hosted Nam is Tunis International Center for Digital Cultural Economy (TICDCE), under the Ministry of Culture in Tunisia.

“They are game designers and developers in Tunisia, but the whole country is starting in this industry,” said Nam.

Nam’s visit to Tunis consists of two trips, the first of which was in late May.

“I ran a two-week long workshop on game design and development, and the implication of virtual reality,” said Nam.

Sang Nam with his May workshop group in Tunisia. Photo provided

He returns in September to help designers create a virtual reality game focused on the historical site Dar Sebastian, often called the Hammamet Cultural Centre. Nam and the workshop participants visited the historical site to see what they could do to highlight those places using game design.

“It will be educational for youth in Tunisia who play this virtual reality game while walking around this building and learning about their culture,” said Nam.

His work overseas mirrors the work he’s doing with his students at Mason, which includes upcoming projects that focus on concepts such as Serious Games and digital therapeutics.

“Serious Games are not for pure entertainment, but games with serious purposes such as education, simulation, defense, and more,” he said.

The concept of Serious Games can be applied to potential solutions for problems normally approached by other disciplines. This process, Nam said, is called “gamification.”

This is no easy feat, Nam said, but “we want our students to be creative problem solvers. While making a game from scratch, they have to overcome many things. To gamify is to basically use well-working game mechanics and learning why it works or makes the games so engaging. We try to use those mechanics in real life.”

Mason’s Virginia Serious Game Institute (VSGI) will host the international symposium on DTx, digital therapeutics, sponsored by NCSoft, one of the biggest game companies in Korea with Mason Korea. The event will take place at Mason Square (formerly Arlington Campus) on November 9.

Nam describes digital therapeutics as apps or games that can be used for medicinal purposes. “There are prescribed games for ADHD, pain management, and for people’s well-being,” he said.

Nam is working on a grant proposal for the National Cancer Institute in hopes of implementing a new pain management remedy for late-stage cancer patients, which will also lessen the use of pain medication.

“What I, and many game design developers believe, is that sometimes it’s better for a patient to play a virtual reality game in an immersive and engaging setting to ease the pain a little bit,” he said.

He compares these gamified solutions to that of the Metaverse, which simulates real-life structures.

“There are many ways for us to use games to make this world better.”

Topics

Fulbright

Fulbright Scholars

Research

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Virginia Serious Game Institute

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

Computer game design student creates app to educate children about the coronavirus

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Jul 2021 15:05:21 +0000

Computer game design student creates app to educate children about the coronavirus Colleen Rich Mon, 07/12/2021 - 11:05

In This Story

Sang Nam

Computer game design alum Ying Wang

Ying Wang wanted to help kids protect themselves from COVID-19, so she designed an app to do just that.

Wang designed the augmented reality (AR) game as part of an independent study project in George Mason University’s Computer Game Design Program. She developed the concept and created 2D and 3D child-friendly animated characters.

“I did my research before creating this app, and there is no AR app that shows little kids how to protect themselves from the virus,” said Wang, who earned a BFA in computer game design in May from the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“My goal is for kids, after playing my app, when they are wearing masks and playing outside with their friends, they will suddenly remember—this bear in the AR app told us not to touch our mask once I put it on,” said Wang.

Wang’s AR app helps children deal with COVID-19 by providing some instructions about practical things like social distancing, wearing masks, and practicing basic hygiene, such as hand washing.

Ying Wang created 2D and 3D child-friendly animated characters for the app.

“I try to support students’ creativity to utilize game technology to create a meaningful product,” said Sang Nam, director of Mason’s Computer Game Design Program.

Nam said parents are often hesitant to allow children to play video games because they feel some games can be harmful, addictive, and violent.

“We want to prove that if you use game technology right, we can actually educate our children with more highly engaging content,” he said.

Although the COVID-19 vaccine is available for those age 12 and older, it has not yet been approved for younger children.

“There are still things that we can do to for kids under 12 years old to be aware of how to protect themselves,” said Wang, who hopes to upload the app to Google Play.

Nam said that coronavirus can be a hard topic to approach, and people often avoid it because of the dangers associated with the virus.

“I look at this app as positive reinforcement that actually teaches them about the virus,” Nam said. “Ying has a bright future as an app developer and a game designer and developer.”

Wang, who was a student in Nam’s GAME 399 Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Design course in Fall 2020, said she’s proud to see her app come to fruition, and she encourages children to do their own part to overcome this pandemic by following the simple steps featured in her app. A preview of the app is available for viewing.

Nam said there are many ways to educate children about this virus, but sometimes it can be boring. “But by using this type of interactive, highly engaging app, students can learn and obtain the knowledge about coronavirus easier, and we hope children will want to play more and more. Then they can sustain that knowledge longer.”

Topics

Students

Computer Game Design

coronavirus; COVID-19; Editorial

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

TTIP

Tech Talent Investment Program