1. Serious Games based training to deal
with difficult dialogues and stressful
situations
Lucia Pannese
30 January 2013

2. Fields of application of Serious Games &
simulations in Healthcare
 Supporting therapy, rehabilitation after severe illness
 Self‐management of illness /chronic conditions (e.g. diabetes)
 “Exergames“ ‐ motivating and supporting physical activity and
healthy lifestyle
 Anonymous group therapy
 Preventive medicine
 Behavioural change
 Healthy Nutrition
 Train healthcare professionals (medical procedures, methods for
diagnosis, patient monitoring …..)
 Doctor‐patient communication

3. The MIRROR Project
Reflective Learning at Work
encourage human resources to reflect on previous experiences at the
workplace and learn from them. The project's focus is the creation of a set
of applications that enable employees to learn lessons from their own
experiences (as well as from the experiences of others) and thereby
improve their future performance
@MirrorIP www.mirror-project.eu
LinkedIn: MIRROR – reflective learning at work

4. SCENARIO
Nurses and Carers have to cope with a high level of stress in their
working shifts.
They are trained on the medical side and in procedures, but some
support to deal with “challenging behaviour” is needed.

5. OBJECTIVE
Creating a game that…
▪ Reduces tutorial effort
▪ Enhances learners capability to self-regulate learning
▪ Connects the virtual and the real experience
▪ Makes learners / players reflect on experience
▪ Connects previous and future experience (backwards and forward
reflection)
▪ Motivates learners and engages them

6. CHARACTERISTICS
This game should…
▪ Display a 3D graphics
▪ Be immersive
▪ Be simple to play
▪ Vary the form of the interactivity
▪ Show a high level of fidelity in the look and feel
▪ Incorporate a virtual tutor
▪ Allow to revise the learning experience and reflect on it

7. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
▪ The Virtual Tutor is based on Vygotsky’s social learning theory
that emphasizes the essential nature of social dimensions to
learning.
▪ The importance of peer learning was stressed in the development
of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZDP) defined as ‘the
distance between the actual development level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult
guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers’
▪ The Zone is not some clear-cut space that exists independently of
the process of joint activity itself but it is created in the course of
collaboration.
(Vygotsky, 1978)

8. THE VIRTUAL TUTOR
▪ acts as co-learner able to support learners’ knowledge construction;
▪ provides a cognitive model of competent performance;
▪ has no position of authority with respect to the learner, because this
create a trusting relationship that might facilitate self-disclosure of
ignorance and misconception;
▪ monitors learner performance;
▪ diagnoses, corrects and manages misconceptions and errors;
▪ adds to and extends learners’ current capabilities;
▪ modifies learners’ current capabilities;
▪ rebuilds new understanding when learners have a misconception.

9. Link with a Reflection Model
clarify the connection between the reflection model and games in
order to improve the MIRROR conceptualization of serious games as
tools for reflection
“Do work” step in the 3D game

10. The Learning Diary
Conduct reflection
session in the 3D
game (post game)

11. THE VIRTUAL HOSPITAL

12. DIALOGUES

13. THE iPAD

14. MINI-GAMES

15. VIRTUAL TUTOR: PUSH and PULL
Push: learners can ask for the help of Pull: in some precise situation Maria
Maria whenever they feel it is relevant. appears inside the game through a
pop-up window to help users deal with
difficult situations

16. FORMATIVE EVALUATION
‘This would have been ‘The Virtual Tutor is a ‘Mini games are really
really helpful when we good support inside fun and teach me
first started’. the game’. something that seems
to be really important’.
‘It’s really helpful’. ‘I was really immersed ‘Tutor really helps me
inside the game’. during the game’.
‘Mrs Violet looks exactly ‘The game is really ‘The tutor’s feedback, the
like Mrs XX and she says innovative, I like the scores and the learning
exactly those sorts of way patients are diary help me to reflect
things!’. distributed inside the about my game
environment, the experience’.
challenges I have to
address and the mini
games’.

18. Insights and Lessons Learned
Normally a coach/facilitator supports the transfer exercise between
virtual and real experiences:
▪ We have shown that part of this support can be transferred into a
game, adding it as a narrative element, without breaking the plot
and the engagement. Users find it useful and like it.
▪ The virtual tutor supports self-regulated learning.
▪ The logics and mechanics of this virtual tutorial support is
transferrable to other domains.

19. Next Steps….
New Scenarios:
• Emergency training in a hospital after an earthquake
• Flexible working styles in a modern company
• Soft skills training

20. Next Steps….
New Features:
▪ User generated content through NPCs (authoring tool)
▪ Dynamic scenes (repeatability)

21. THE MIRROR PROJECT
@MirrorIP
www.mirror-project.eu
LinkedIn: MIRROR – reflective learning at work

22. Thank you for
your attention!
Lucia Pannese
CEO, imaginary srl Mob. +39 338 8785839
Innovation Network Politecnico di lucia.pannese@i-maginary.it
Milano Skype: lueolli
@lpannese
Via Mauro Macchi, 50 - 20124 Milan
Phone +39 02 89458.576 www.i-maginary.it