Media Room - Press Releases - 2008

Game-based Technology to Meet Demand for Improved Medical Teaching and Training

BreakAway Gains Exclusive License For Pulse!! Virtual Learning Platform For Clinical Skills And Decision Making Training*



Baltimore, Md. – BreakAway Ltd., a leading developer of game-based technology solutions for training, experimentation and decision-making analysis, has signed a license agreement with the Texas A&M University System for the exclusive, worldwide rights to Pulse!! the Virtual Clinical Learning Lab, a federally-funded project in development at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). This agreement grants BreakAway the rights to develop, market and distribute Pulse!!, the innovative, game-based platform technology that allows medical professionals to practice decision-making protocol and experiential skills on their PCs, in a virtual hospital setting, anywhere, at anytime, in a safe learning environment.

BreakAway CEO Doug Whatley said, “Through our collaboration with TAMU-CC to develop a platform solution for teaching and training medical professionals, we realize the urgent need for medical organizations to augment their traditional training methods with game-based technology such as Pulse!!. We are honored to be able to use Pulse!! technology as the starting point for delivering virtual learning tools to supplement medical training using a simulated 3D world that replicates the actual physical and emotional environment that medical professionals face whether it’s in a hospital, clinic or on the battlefield.”

The Pulse!! project was pioneered and is directed by Dr. Claudia L. McDonald, Associate Vice President for Special Projects at TAMU-CC, in order to address educational and training issues presented by the growing healthcare professional shortage. BreakAway was selected by Dr. McDonald as the developer for Pulse!!. BreakAway will continue to work with TAMU-CC on their development efforts for Pulse!! while further developing the platform technology for wider use to meet the demands to better teach and train medical professionals.

Pulse!! is currently being tested at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.; The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md.; the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.; and the Tufts School of Medicine in Boston, Mass.

“The BreakAway agreement is a giant step for Pulse!!,” said McDonald, who oversees an international project-development team of medical subject-matter experts, learning researchers and virtual-world technology specialists. “We’ve moved well beyond theory to the implementation of this technological advance in medical education and simulation.”

In addition, the agreement grants BreakAway the rights to further develop and market the virtual learning platform and its accompanying technology portfolio, including the hardware engines, software, simulation models and developer tools that power the platform. The first application of the Pulse!! technology will be to develop a dental implant training simulation to better train dental students in decision making protocol and clinical skills needed for dental implant procedures.

For additional information on the Pulse!! Virtual Learning Platform Technology, visit the BreakAway booth at the upcoming Games For Health conference at the Baltimore Convention Center, May 8 and 9.

To learn more or see what Pulse!! can do for you, contact Paul Mauritz, pmauritz@breakawayltd.com or Dr. Claudia McDonald, claudia.mcdonald@tamucc.edu.

About BreakAway, Ltd. (www.breakawayltd.com)

BreakAway is a leading developer of entertainment games and game-based technology for modeling, simulation, training, and visualization. By applying the tools and technology of the gaming industry to the creation of simulations for training, experimentation and decision-making analysis, BreakAway is changing the future of learning.

* Graphics and product demonstrations available upon request.

BreakAway has emerged as the top serious games company through its Lite Simulation products, with a client list that includes Electronic Arts, Microsoft, the Department of Defense, FDIC, and the National Institute for Justice. A three-time Deloitte’s Technology Fast 50 winner, BreakAway employs nearly 100 people in its Hunt Valley, Md., headquarters and at its Corpus Christi, Tx., studio.