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TOPSS-VW: Coming Home - Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds

The TOPSS-VW (Transitional Online Post-deployment Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds) project aims to provide support for soldiers returning from deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan who are suffering from PTSD, depression, or TBI. By utilizing the virtual world of Second Life, the project offers a specialized gathering space with resources for healing and transition, interactive CAM-based interventions, and virtual humans to guide and help with reintegration. The project aims to address the reintegration issues and provide social support and stress relief for veterans in the virtual world.

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TOPSS-VW: Coming Home - Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds

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  1. Transitional Online Post-deployment Soldier Support in Virtual Worlds (TOPSS-VW) “Coming Home” Jacki Morie USC Institute for Creative Technologies The projects or efforts depicted were or are sponsored by the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Simulation Training and Technology Center (STTC). The content or information presented does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.

  2. Wounds of War Latest statistics indicate that more than 300,000 veterans who have returned from Iraq & Afghanistan are currently suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression OR TBI (Rand Corporation, 2008)

  3. Getting help Only 1 in 3 Iraq war veterans seeks mental health services, according to an Army panel of experts last year. Many of those never complete their treatment. WHY?

  4. Virtual Worlds • They are a lot like games, but can serve more purposes. • You can be anonymous. 1 in 8 Americans use Virtual Worlds (GigOM research, 2009)

  5. Questions: Can a VW • become part of a veteran’s reintegration process? • provide social support, stress relief & other therapies for veterans in the VW? • Can we make intelligent agents to serve as guides & helpers in the VW? Our VW choice: Second Life

  6. “Coming Home” approach Address re-integration issues via a specialized gathering space in a virtual world with resources for healing & transition. Provide interactive Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM)-based interventions within the Virtual Space Add virtual humans to keep the space from being confusing or empty & to direct people to activities

  7. The Veterans Center • Chicoma Lodge • Relaxing spaces: outside & inside • Game rooms

  8. The Veterans Center Enrichment activities • Labyrinth • Story Tower for Warrior’s Journeys

  9. Virtual Humans in Coming Home The Greeter Guide (Island Caretaker) …. helps to maximize each person’s experience. Currently: Text-based question & answer Future: Spoken conversation with appropriate gestures & animations

  10. ICT makes Virtual Humans

  11. C3IT Cultural training ICT’s Virtual Humans Portfolio Minor Characters RadiobotsJFETS Training Elder-Al-Hassan SASO-EN ELECT Bi-Lat Dr. Perez SASO-ST, SASO-EN Virtual Humans Training Research Marketing Hassan Emotional Dialog Modeling Sgt. Blackwell Clinical Diagnosis Gunslinger Museum Guide & Coach RapportAgent Study Sgt. Star Justin Virtual Patient Veterans Center Raed Tactical Questioning Justina Virtual Patient

  12. The Labyrinth Guide … can be summoned to explain how to walk a labyrinth.

  13. The Storyteller Agent … answers questions about The Warriors Journey story

  14. CAM Therapies Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

  15. The Veterans Center’s Chicoma Exchange (Cx) Resources • Events Board • V.O.I.C.E.S. (Veterans Online & Inworld Chicoma Services Exchange) • Orientation & Building Tutorials • Freebies (clothes, objects, avatars)

  16. The Veterans Center: Physical Activities The Running Path

  17. Collaborations • Support from Linden Lab • SL Veterans’ group (~1000 members) • Medical, CAM & military experts

  18. Future Plans Resources • More CAM therapies) • AA and NA in-world groups • Art & music therapies • Career Center • Virtual Humans • Add voice functionality • Create MBSR helper agent • Storytelling agent to assist veterans in authoring their own Warriors Journey 2010: Pilot study with recently returned vets @ Ft. Sam Houston, TX

  19. VWs -> RW Benefits? • Stanford group finds that effects experienced by avatars in the virtual world spill into the real world. e.g. physical activities Yee, N. & Bailenson, J. “The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior.” Human Communication Research 33(3), 271-290. (2007). Fox, J. & Bailenson, J. “Virtual Exercise in the Third Person: Identification, Physical Similarity, and Behavioral Modeling”, May 22, 2008. Available at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p230577_index.html • Social activities are therapeutic – RW or VW • CAM activities may mitigate declining health scores in returned vets

  20. ICT’s Virtual Humans & Vet Center teams Virtual Humans researchers Dr. Bill Swartout Dr. Jonathan Gratch Dr. Stacy Marsella Dr. Anton Lueski Dr. Ron Artstein Patrick Kenny Susan Robinson Jillian Gerten Dr. Paul Debevec & the Graphics Lab The Veteran’s Center team Eric Chance Kip Haynes Sean Bouchard Dr. Jacki Morie Dinesh Rajapurohit Dr. David Traum & the Natural Language Group Ed Fast Matt Liewer Brad Newman Dusan Jan Antonio Roque Sudeep Gandhe Ashish Vaswani … & many other talented artists & researchers through the years. And thanks to our funders, the U. S. Army RDECOM, and the NSF. These opinions relayed here are my own and no official endorsement should be inferred.

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