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Serious Games Crossover Technologies Between Military and Civilian Apps




The annual Defense GameTech Users' Conference, to be held this year on September 3-5 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, is focused on the use of gaming technologies that enhance warfighter training.  

GameTech is a unique opportunity not only for experts from around the world to discuss the advancement of gaming technologies within the Department of Defense, but also for anyone interested in the use of Serious Games that help both the military and civilian organizations train, educate, and improve workforce performance through the use of technology.

The Draft Agenda for 2014, updated on 08/29/2014, includes experts from Government, Academia and Industry and the keynote speakers are leading authorities in military training and commercial game development. Each of the speakers are deeply immersed in serious gaming, virtual worlds, and mobile learning, and will share their knowledge and thoughts on ways to ensure these future technologies continue to be used to their full potential, specifically for learning.

GOVERNMENT KEYNOTE

Manny Dominguez, PhD., Deputy Chief Learning Officer(DCLO) for the Veterans Health Administration, Employee Education System (EES)

Dr. Manny Dominguez is leading the effort to build the first virtual medical center for the Veterans Health Administration.

“In order to enhance care delivery and education, we’re embarking on a 21st century virtual hospital and learning environment that gives patients and staff direct access to medical education, wellness tools and hundreds of VA resources, anytime and anywhere,” Dominguez said.

INDUSTRY KEYNOTE

Waymon Armstrong, Co-Founder and President, Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS)

Armstrong is widely viewed as a visionary in Modeling, Simulation and Training (MS&T), and is a strong proponent of crossover technology, which applies military training tools to new markets, including healthcare, education, the cruise industry and others. His company was one of the first to venture into PC-based serious gaming, virtual world technologies and mobile devices.

Armstrong became one of the first defense simulation and training companies to transition technologies to non-military applications in the past five years when he began offering ECS technologies to the Oil & Gas industry, transportation, education and medical/healthcare sectors

The company’s latest product, Virtual Offshore Platforms, went live in May, and is being used to train oil rig operators on day-to-day and emergency-response procedures.


“If you’re not constantly looking ahead, scanning the horizon for market changes, and willing to take some risks, you won’t survive today’s highly competitive, ever-evolving technology environment. ECS was one of the first to recognize the power of Serious Games and, as with other technology areas, we took the risk to invest in a future that provides a personal and realistic learning capability that is helping, not only our military, but also students from many other business areas, including the next generation learner,” Armstrong said.

GAMES KEYNOTE

Eric Preisz, Chief Executive Officer for GarageGames

Widely known for the development of the open source game engine Torque 3D, Preisz is very familiar with GameTech, having previously attended the event. As this year's Games Keynote speaker, Preisz will share his thoughts on the current state of gaming and the impact it's making in a multitude of industries.

“One of the truly growing areas in game development is in education, and GarageGames is working on education projects including game development curriculum and location-based entertainment,” Preisz said.  “It’s now recognized that traditional methods of classroom instruction are becoming less effective in our growing technological era, and events like GameTech allow those of us most immersed in this field to get together, compare notes, and discuss future trends.”

MOBILE KEYNOTE

Sara de Freitas, PhD., Pro Vice Chancellor and Professor of Learning and Teaching, Murdoch University, Australia

Dr. Sara de Freitas, is set as the Mobile Games keynoter for Orlando’s upcoming GameTech conference. De Freitas will present a distinctive, global view on gaming and mobile learning that focuses on her diverse experience and research interests. Current research initiatives are focused in learning analytics, technology enhanced learning, higher educational policy and leadership and advanced educational games research and development.

Complementing the keynote speakers, the conference has scheduled more than 45 sessions ranging from topics that include Serious Game design and discovering cost savings with game-based training, to components of medical virtual environment. 

Attendees also have the opportunity for learning through hands-on experiences by visiting conference exhibitors, including: Bohemia Interactive Simulations, Havok, Virtual Heroes, Calytrix, Polhemus, SimSTAFF, AEgis, the UCF Institute for Simulation and Training, and National Center for Simulation.

Stay updated with all GameTech news including post conference documents and surveys, plus info for next year’s conference with Twitter (@DefenseGameTech) and Facebook (Defense GameTech User’s Conference) accounts.

GameTech 2014 Hosts

The NationalCenter for Simulation (NCS), along with Team Orlando, hosts the annual event.

NCS is a non-profit trade association whose vision is to be the recognized leader in supporting and expanding the modeling and simulation community. NCS is committed to promoting modeling and simulation technology expansion, supporting education and workforce development and providing business development support to its members.

Team Orlando is established by a Department of Defense Inter-Service Charter that builds upon a partnership established between the Army and Navy over 60 years ago. Today, Team Orlando members from Government, academia and industry are focused on one common goal of improving human performance through simulation.


Team Orlando is composed of the primary military service organizations responsible for research, development, acquisition, and life cycle support for America’s military training, simulation, and test and evaluation/instrumentation products and services, including commands from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, as well as representation by the US Coast Guard and Joint Forces Command. 

Supporting and completing Team Orlando’s composition are modeling and simulation, human performance and training leaders in academia and industry, as well as Federal, State and Local government organizations.