Annual Games4Health Challenge awards prizes to students who develop digital games and apps that address health issues
SALT LAKE CITY/
PRNewswire/ -- Games4Health at the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation at the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business celebrate the achievements of student teams that competed in this year's challenge. On March 30, Games4Health hosted a public arcade that showcased nearly two dozen of the 70 innovative games designed and developed by students. That evening, a gala honored all the winners and welcomed Ofer Leidner, president of Happify, as he discussed the positive impact digital games can have on health and wellness.
This year's competition focused on five challenges including corporate wellness, happy fitness, clinical health, chronic diseases and mental wellbeing, with a grand prize sponsored by Samsung Health. A total of 160 teams and more than 300 students from across the world came together to create innovative gaming solutions that impact health through successful behavioral change. Competitive teams came from 21 states, 86 universities and 14 countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, Portugal, South Korea and others. Games4Health represents a global effort to deliver health through today's consumer technologies.
The $10,000 grand prize sponsored by Samsung Health was awarded to team BYU MPH for Calorei Quest from Brigham Young University.
The $5,000 first place winners for this year's five challenges were:
Happy Fitness Challenge
Sponsored by SocialWellth and DHX
Gamify for JES
University of Utah
Corporate Wellness Challenge
Sponsored by MetLife
Healthy & Happy for Fit + Team
Missouri State University
Clinical Health Challenge
Sponsored by GE Healthcare
Lullabreath for Treasure Hunter
University of Utah and Arizona State University
Chronic Disease Challenge
Sponsored by Utah of Health Plan and University of Utah Hospital
Chimera Games for Gamelitto Adventures
State University of Londrina (Brazil)
Mental Wellbeing
Sponsored by Happify
GiVR for GiVR
Rowland Hall High School
The 14 other second place ($3,000), third place ($1,000) and 'best of' ($1,000) winners came from American University of Maryland, University of the Virigin Islands, Stony Brook University (New York), Brigham Young University, Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University, College of Marin, University of Texas, University of South Carolina and the University of Utah.
In addition, this year there were two new 'best of' awards for best high school, which went to Rowland Hall High School, which also won in the mental wellbeing category; and best virtual reality or augmented reality, which went to Haptic Labs for this game summit, from the University of Utah.
Games4Health was made possible this year by generous title sponsor Samsung Health, which also provided the grand prize, and challenge sponsors Happify, SocialWellth and DHX, University of Utah Health Plan and University of Utah Hospital and GE Healthcare. Other sponsors include Infuse Medical, Styker, BD Medical, Games for Health Journal, Games for Health Europe, HIMSS Personal Connected Health Alliance, O.C. Tanner, HealthBox, University of Utah Eccles Health Science Library, Center for Medical Innovation at the University of Utah and the Engineering Arts and Entertainment Program at the University of Utah. Their support and shared vision have brought the Games4Health community together to make a lasting impact on the lives of students.
During the Games4Health gala, Leidner, president of Happify, offered his experience and wisdom from a career of creating globally successful video games that engaged tens of millions of gamers. He then shared the motivation for his career pivot toward creating health applications that employ game mechanics and principles to improve the health and wellbeing of millions.
More details on winners and a recording of the gala with Leidner's keynote address can be found at g4hutah.com.
About the Games4Health Challenge
The Games4Health Challenge (g4hutah.com) is an annual collaboration of the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation at the David Eccles School of Business, the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program (an interdisciplinary program between the College of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts) and the Center for Medical Innovation at The University of Utah Medical School.
About the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation
The Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation provides experiential learning experiences for students from across The University of Utah to help them develop their creative genius. The Center's Management Consulting Experience Program (called d3i Labs) provides the student associates with opportunities to help client organizations innovate their technologies and business models. The Center also helps mentor and coach students with their own inventions, innovations and ventures and provides educational programs and courses in innovation and technology strategy. The Center also runs the Games4Health Challenge, the largest global challenge focused on health games and apps, to help promote creativity and innovation.
About Entertainment Arts and Engineering
Entertainment Arts & Engineering (eae.utah.edu) describes the interdisciplinary work between The University of Utah College of Engineering and the College of Fine Arts. This work encompasses the wide array of fields in video-game design and development, and students from both colleges work closely together throughout their academic careers. This partnership between disciplines reflects the current state of the interactive entertainment business world. Students leave the program prepared to work effectively in a team environment. The Entertainment Arts & Engineering program is offered at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
About the Center for Medical Innovation
Fueled by a collaborative effort between The University of Utah Health Sciences Center, the David Eccles School of Business, the College of Engineering and the Technology Venture Development Program, the Center for Medical Innovation combines formal education programs, faculty and student project development, and support and facilitation of device development and commercialization. The Center creates a one-stop-shop environment that assists both the novice and experienced innovator through ideation, concept generation, intellectual property, market analysis, prototyping and testing, business plan development, and commercialization. Learn more about the Center at http://healthsciences.utah.edu/center-for-medical-innovation/index.php.
About the David Eccles School of Business
The Eccles School is synonymous with 'doing.' The Eccles experience provides a world-class business education with a unique, entrepreneurial focus on real-world scenarios where students put what they learn into practice long before graduation. Founded in 1917 and educating more than 6,000 students annually, the University of Utah David Eccles School of Business offers eight undergraduate majors, four MBAs, seven other graduate programs, a Ph.D. in seven areas and executive education curricula. The School is also home to nine institutes, centers and initiatives that deliver academic research and support an ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation. For more information, visit Eccles.Utah.edu or call 801-581-7676.
Contacts:
Sheena McFarland, David Eccles School of Business, 801-510-5567 Sheena.McFarland@Eccles.Utah.edu
Spencer Parkinson, Method Communications, 801-461-9767, spencer@methodcommunications.com
SOURCE David Eccles School of Business