MeGa Health Jam Showcases Simulated Healthcare Solutions

By Christa Yates, Staff Writer

 

The MeGa Health Jam returned to Orlando for a weekend jam-packed with rapid prototyping, video game development, and simulated healthcare solutions, Sept. 6-8.

 

The Indienomicon Foundation, which organizes the MeGa Health Jam, has organized game jams since 2013. Game jams are weekend-long exercises that gather game makers, designers, developers, and creatives to produce a working game in a single weekend. Participants meet on Friday night, pitch their ideas, and form teams to develop their unique projects. By Sunday afternoon, the teams submit completed projects.

 

While a typical game jam may focus solely on developing an enjoyable game in a short time, the MeGa Health Jam introduces additional challenges for developers, tasking teams to develop games that meet the requirements in certain challenge categories to win. This year’s challenge categories were children’s health, behavioral and disability, aging well and longevity, women’s health, engagement and adherence, security and privacy, community and social responsibility, and patient experience.

 

The MS² collaborative space in Lake Nona served as the venue for this year’s Health Jam, a 16,000-square-foot venue that supports collaboration for its occupants. According to Isabella Johnston, MeGa Health Jam organizer and founder of Cat5 Studios, the new venue is more than just a change of scenery, but a promising development in a continued partnership with Lake Nona.

 

“We are surrounded by medical buildings and schools in this location,” Johnston said. “We want the event to reflect the environment it’s running in. In this area, there’s a focus on medical education and community that is new to us.”

 

This weekend’s judges were David Metcalf, Ph.D., senior researcher at the University of Central Florida’s Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab, Jack Henkel, senior cluster manager for the Florida High Tech Corridor, and Evan Raketic, founder of Rake Technologies and former MeGa Health Jam participant.

 

 

Through intense deliberation, the judges announced the following winners:

First Place: Wheels of Fate

Second Place: Nimble Nurses

Third Place: Silly Chef

Most Fun: MedTech VR

Specialty Category Winner: Seasonal Flow

 

 

To learn more about the teams and view their completed games, visit Team Orlando’s MeGa Health Jam: Participant Showcase.

 

The MeGa Health Jam is more than an exercise in rapid development. It has provided jobs for many past participants. According to Raketic, the inaugural MeGa Health Jam began for him as an opportunity to mentor one of the prize-winning teams, but it represented the beginning of his career.

 

“I didn’t have a career when I entered the first MeGa Health Jam,” Raketic said. “I was a mentor advising what would become the second-place team. After speaking with Kelly Murray, an organizer for the first MeGa Health Jam, she became a long-term advisor and helped me start a company. The MeGa Health Jam is where I met all of the people who encouraged me to do something fantastic.”

 

Indienomicon’s next event will be the All Hallow’s Jam, a Halloween-themed game jam at OMG Labs in downtown Orlando, Oct. 4-6.