Touch Screens and Apps: A multi-modal approach to games for health literacy Joana Ricou Expanding on the success of earlier projects, we are exploring game design in touch screen interfaces for interactive museum displays and mobile platforms to explore regenerative medicine and basic biology. The goal is to develop scientifically accurate content that is accessible to a variety of learning styles and age groups, bridging the gap between formal and informal education. The idea is to integrate exploration experiences for as many students as possible across a variety of platforms. In this talk Ricou covered latest developments towards multi-layered set of experiences centered around health and health-related science. Various levels of evaluation and assessment, which have help to guide this evolution, were discussed. The Regenerative Medicine Partnership in Education is an interdisciplinary project led by Dr. John Pollock of Duquesne University. The project continues to produce innovative planetarium shows using high-tech scientific visualization that bring the audience into the human body to reveal fundamental principals of science that enhance science literacy and in turn, health literacy. The effort is made possible by a Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) from the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health. The three-game suite “Dr. Allevable’s Unbelievable Laboratory” explores the world of tissue engineering from the perspective of scientists who collect stem cells, guide cells to damaged tissues and ways to provided needed blood supply. We also work through a small company called Green-Eye Visualization to package and customize these games for particular audiences. We discuss “Powers of Minus Ten,” a mobile app that zooms into the human hand to explore skin tissue down to the molecular level. This game was funded by the National Science Foundation and produced by Laura Lynn Gonzalez. www.sepa.duq.edu/games www.powersofminusten.com

1. From Planetariums, to Kiosks, to the Web
A multi-modal approach to games for health
Joana Ricou
Creative Director
John A. Pollock, Ph.D.
Associate Professor • Duquesne University
Executive Producer/Director
Partnership in Education
Principal Funding: Science Education Partnership Award from the
National Center for Research Resources
A component of the National Institutes of Health

2. Transmedia and Health
• Iterative
development that
includes experts,
K-12, and general
audiences
• Transmedia
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

3. Dr. Allevable’s Unbelievable Lab (2004)
Bone and Heart Modules
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

4. Transmedia Approach
• Fulldome shows
• DVD movies
• Hands-on/outdoor activities
• Web sites
• Board games
• Storytelling, …
www.sepa.duq.edu
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

5. Creating a
game for an
exhibit
Exhibit had three
segments:
•The Natural World
• The Science of
Tissue Engineering
• Clinical
Applications, Ethics, Is
sues and Answers
Interactives focused on
elementary level, and
mechanical rather than
electronic.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

6. Steps of Tissue Engineering
The processes of regenerative
medicine naturally lend themselves
to become games.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

7. In this game, students harvest adult stem cells from the bone
marrow and discover growth factors.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

8. Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

9. In this game, students help a stem cell navigate the body to find
an injury site in the heart.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

10. Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

11. Playing “Grow With the Flow”
In this game, students build blood vessels to reach stem cells in
a scaffold.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

12. Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

13. Main Screen
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

14. Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

15. Some of the Findings
Audience testing:
1) Formative surveys of museum
patrons.
2) Paper game testing 7th grade
3) Video interactive testing 5th grade
4) Museum observation on touch
screen
5) Video interactive 7th grade
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

16. 4) “Scaffolds are used in the process of
repairing injured body parts” – true or
false?
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

17. 4) “Scaffolds are used in the process of repairing
injured body parts” – true or false?
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

18. At the Museum.
• travelling exhibit
• Available for the PC
• Use in the classroom
• An iPad / iPhone
version is coming soon.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

19. Laura Lynn Gonzalez, PI
Joana Ricou
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

20. Zoom into the human hand
down to the molecular level!
See video at
www.powersofminusten.com
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

21. See video at
www.powersofminusten.com
A Lab section includes as inventory of all structures and a set of
challenges.
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu

22. Thanks!
Find us here: Playing now:
www.sepa.duq.edu/games Snood
www.powersofminusten.com Tetris
World of Goo (iPad)
Contact us: Fruit Ninja
Joana Ricou
jiricou@gmail.com
Joana Ricou – jiricou@gmail.com – www.sepa.duq.edu