CIVIC-FA Track A: A Disaster Multiplayer Online Game (DMOG) to Enhance Emergency Preparedness in the Midwest

The objective of this project is to support research on creating, implementing, and testing a novel online serious game on emergency response. Iowa State University (ISU) and Polk County Emergency Management (PCEM) in Iowa collaboratively develop the Disaster Multiplayer Online Game (DMOG). Emergency response is a complex process, involving multiple organizations and decision makers with different roles and responsibilities, objectives, and resources. DMOG intends to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of emergency management (EM) training by engaging key decision makers within an online computer game. Each player in DMOG assumes a role (e.g., county emergency manager, law enforcement, fire department, emergency medical services). DMOG then simulates a sudden onset of a Midwest disaster and forces players to grapple with the uncertainty and trade-offs in their actions. Important research questions are answered, informing the next generation of online games for EM applications. The plan is to expand DMOG to other types of disasters and geographic locations. The learning objectives of DMOG are to: (i) increase knowledge about roles in EM, (ii) enhance EM decision-making competencies, and (iii) foster collaboration and communication among EM decision makers. The goal of creating and evaluating DMOG is to empower decision makers with the skills to prioritize among competing demands and allocate resources during a high-pressure, high-stakes situation, thereby enhancing their communities’ disaster preparedness. The fully functional game at the end of Stage 2 features a set of decisions and consequences around a derecho scenario, creation of a virtual environment of the farmers’ market, and use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) to produce short videos, audio, and text for the game. The complexity and realism of the game in combination with the virtual environment creation and the AI-assisted content generation makes DMOG a truly innovative training tool. The project also assesses if playing the online game results in more informed and better trained decision makers. This project is jointly funded by Division of Civil, Mechanical and Manufacturing Innovation and Advancing Informal STEM Learning Program. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.