Depression: SPARX Game As Effective As Traditional Treatment

An innovative computer-based intervention for depressed young people, developed by researchers from The University of Auckland, has been shown to be at least as effective as standard treatments mainly comprising face-to-face therapy.

A research team led by Associate Professor Sally Merry developed and trialled the intervention called SPARX with the aim of giving young people easier, lower cost access to treatment.

In a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) they assessed the effectiveness of SPARX in 24 sites around New Zealand, including youth clinics, schools and general practices. Half of the young people participating used the new game and half received standard treatment through their doctor, school counsellor or other provider. SPARX was shown to be at least as good as the standard treatments.

SPARX uses CD-Rom based computer gaming to teach self-help for depression. It includes an interactive 3D fantasy game to teach young people the skills they need to cope with challenges and manage their mood. In contrast to many other e-therapies, SPARX has been designed to help young people learn through action in a virtual world. It is based on cognitive behavioural therapy, a proven therapeutic approach.

“Using computer technology that young people are comfortable with is one way of making therapy more accessible, practical, and hopefully more fun,” says Dr Merry. It has been designed to be easily accessed by young people directly or to be delivered easily in primary care settings.

In 2011, SPARX won a UN World Summit Award recognising creativity and innovation in e-health interventions.



Depression is common among young people internationally and accessing help can be difficult. One in five New Zealanders will have experienced clinical depression by their eighteenth birthday. Three quarters of young people with depression never receive treatment. “We want to intervene earlier and more effectively,” says Dr Merry.

SPARX was initiated by researchers, clinicians, and learning technologists at the University’s Werry Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health in the Department of Psychological Medicine. It was developed with input from Māori, Pacific people, and other cultural groups in New Zealand.

The programme was created with the assistance of a local game development company, Metia Interactive. A number of actors, musicians and artists have generously donated their time and skills to the project.

The work was funded by the NZ Ministry of Health as part of the Primary Health Care Strategy to build and strengthen the capacity of the primary care sector to respond to mental health needs, and in this case adolescent depression

More information on SPARX is available on www.sparx.org.nz.

NASA Launches Blast Off! A New Facebook Game

NASA announced yesterday that it’s launched a new game on Facebook, with a goal of testing people’s knowledge about science, the space program, and pop culture.

The game was developed by Scott Hanger, Todd Powell and Jamie Noguchi of NASA’s Internet Services Group.

The game, called Space Race Blast Off is a pretty straightforward, multi-player trivia game. Players choose an avatar, then compete against two other players to see who can get the most points.

Winners earn achievements in the form of badges. The overall goal of the game is to provide more public outreach for NASA.

“Space Race Blastoff opens NASA’s history and research to a wide new audience of people accustomed to using social media,” said David Weaver, NASA’s associate administrator for communications in the press release. “Space experts and novices will learn new things about how exploration continues to impact our world.”

I tried out the game and am actually ashamed to admit it wasn’t until my fourth round playing that I finally beat my competitors. Which got me a Robert Goddard badge – something I’m quite happy about.

Not only am I a big Goddard fan, but I spent most of my time at my alma mater, WPI, at Goddard Hall – the home of the university’s chemistry and biochemistry programs.

If you’re going to play, be warned. The questions are actually pretty tough. Word of advice if you want to give it a shot: learn your astronauts. That’s definitely my weak point.

Make sure you have a good grasp of the periodic table, too. That said, it’s a fun game to play.

You can check out the game for yourself here.

The New Gamers Immersive Dome Display Unit - The TOOB! - Video

WHAT IS THE PLAN?
TOOB plans to manufacture and sell the world’s first affordable dome displays. TOOB has spent the last 2 years developing its 2nd generation product TOOB Earth.

WHAT IS TOOB Earth?
TOOB Earth is a 1.2 Metre (4ft) diameter half dome which when used with a standard projector fitted with a standard lens can project an image onto the inside curved surface giving the viewer the sense of being fully immersed in the content.Think IMAX/ OMNI MAX but in the home.


One of the key differentiator's is that the projector and screen are all contained within the same footprint meaning you no longer need to compromise on space.

TOOB Earth is the first in a range of dome products planned and will be the foundation for the world’s first consumer focused Gaming/ Simulation/ Film curved screen company.

Its uniquely patented design allows you to place your dome on any hard surface or on our GRAVITY-E adjustable stand.

Using the GRAVITY-E stand adds a further layer of flexibility as it then allows you to either use TOOBs brand new TSR/ TFX & M-spec simulation rigs

or use many existing racing or flight rigs which can be comfortably slide underneath. Or simply use the GRAVITY-E as a furniture piece in your room for watching stereo 3D movies.

CORPORATE
TOOB is well suited for the corporate environment and this is a great opportunity to get a TOOB and be one of the first to showcase TOOB Dome technology with your business.

TOOB's 007 reward shows how you can take a TOOB product and customise it with a unique brand or design.

In April 2011 TOOB attended the Gadget Show Live in Birmingham (UK) visted by over 40,000 tech hungry guests.

TOOB was so popular it increased footfall on our partners stand by thousands. The increased footfall generated more sales.

TOOB gave 1400 demos during the event. That guarenteed 1400 more potential customers + the 1000s of people that stoped to look at the technology.

(T.O.O.B. LTD acknowledges all rights, copyrights and trademarks of 3rd parties, the above image is an artists illustration only)

Ultimate Battlefield 3 Simulator - The Gadget Show - YouTube

“Screw the practicalities, let’s build a huge virtual reality dome and use it to play Battlefield 3!” That’s the admirable attitude shown by the folks at the Gadget Show in this video of the Ultimate Battlefield 3 Simulator, spotted on Reddit.

An “omni-directional treadmill” monitors the players movements. A wireless gun is used to aim and paintball markers attached to the player’s body let him “feel the enemy gunfire.”

It's a 'must have' for Xmas!

Video Games: White Males Dominate

You might not be surprised to hear that the demographics of video-game characters don't quite match up with those of real populations.

But the first "virtual census" of the human characters that inhabit US video games exposes just how much they diverge from reality.

The survey reveals that males, adults and white people are over-represented in games. Females, black people, children and the elderly are correspondingly under-represented.

Dmitri Williams at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, carried out the study with colleagues at Indiana University, Ohio University and Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He told New Scientist that the mismatch between real-world and videogame populations could be excluding some groups of potential players from games.

Identity feelings

Williams and colleagues say that this is the first research on the types of people represented by characters in video games – whose actions are claimed by some to act as role models for people's behaviour in the real world.

They ran a census on the top 150 games sold on nine popular video-gaming platforms, including the Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation, PS2, Nintendo GameCube, PSP, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and the PC. The research took place in February 2006 but has only just been published.

Space chessmen

Space chess

NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff, a chess fanatic, took his board with him to the International Space Station in 2008.

He plays against groups of controllers in the various centres supporting the station, including Houston, Moscow, Japan and Germany.

(Image: NASA)