A Scenario Editor to Create and Modify Virtual Simulations and Serious Games for Mental Health Education

Abstract

Despite the potential of virtual simulations and serious games in health care education, their development is not a trivial process. Typically, they focus on one virtual scenario (e.g., training for a particular health care condition) and do not allow the scenario to be modified simply. This paper presents an overview of a Scenario Editor that allows for developing new or modifying existing virtual simulations and serious game scenarios using a graphical user interface. Our focus in scenario design is currently on mental health education, where interactions occur between an avatar representing the patient and the trainee taking on the health care professional’s role. The Scenario Editor allows health care educators, who may have limited computer science/programming experience, to develop or modify customized virtual learning experiences intuitively.