Swords into ploughshares

A new simulation from the makers of America's Army teaches students about disaster relief and management.

We came across an interesting use of gaming and gameplay in our morning internet rounds, and it’s worth sharing.

Unless you’ve kept your head in the gaming sand over the last few years you’re probably familiar with America’s Army, the US army recruiting tool wrapped up in quite a reasonably made shooter. One of the big points of separation between America’s Army and other games is that a lot of the game is based on actual training, and it endeavours to really re-create the experience of not only armed conflict, but the peacetime activities that prepare you for it.

And you kill stuff, which is always fun. But that’s not the point...

The point is that Virtual Heroes, the company who created America’s Army for the US military, has recently been involved with another simulation project that draws heavily on computer gaming theories and technologies.

Virtual Peace was developed in conjunction with Duke-UNC Rotary Center for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution, Duke University's Visual Studies Initiative, the Duke Computer Science Department, and the Program for Information Science + Information in Society at Duke University. Several grants also supported the project, and it really does seem a worthwhile and unique cause. VP is a simulation of the aftermath of Hurrican Mitch, which devastated Honduras and Nicaragua in 1998.

“In the simulation, as in real life, there is a major international emergency following Hurricane Mitch,” the makers say. “Participants in the simulation will represent the governments and organizations that had a role in providing emergency response and early recovery following Hurricane Mitch, and data concerning relief needs and available resources reflect the actual conditions of this international crisis.”

Virtual Heroes is heavily involved with a number of game-based education projects. It’s a positive thing to see the technologies spun off one of our most beloved of hobbies actually feed back into helping real world problems. So, next time somebody tells you games are waste of time, tell them about Virtual Heroes and Virtual Peace.