InteraQuest will combine the effective learning principles of Action, Personal Involvement and Play (APIP) with the most engaging features of electronic gaming to link interpersonal communication skills to the gameplay and characters.
The keys to creating a successful intervention are to make it actively engaging, captivating, effective and fun:
Based on pricipals documented in current research into emotion and nonverbal language, the basis of human interaction.
Using established game formats to make the target audience comfortable with the subject matter and to keep them actively involved.
With a focus on experimentation and exploaration to encourage testing and reuse. This positive reinforcement feedback loop is the best for internalizing skills.
A format that allows experiments with interpersonal skills without the risks of serious failure or ridicule.
Providing accompanying tools to allow therapists, educators and researchers to customize the play experience and increase its effectiveness on an individualized basis. Thus the game can be used in both an informal home setting and in a more focused clinical one -- with both complementing each other. Further, the tools will provide professionals the capability of tracking and analyzing their sessions.
It is critical that we ensure our products are of established social benefit. Our products are based on theories of emotional intelligence and “the [nonverbal] language of social success,” from professionals such as Dr. Daniel Goleman’s published works on domains of emotional intelligence and Drs. Stephen Nowicki, Jr. and Marshall P. Duke’s published works on the channels nonverbal communication.
Recognizing emotions is a vital component of interpersonal relations. A person must understand what he is feeling before he can modify his behavior to be more socially acceptable. He must be able to accurately decode the nonverbal signals of his companions to determine their emotional states and accurately express nonverbal signals to convey his emotional states to them. This is the basis of empathy.
The game incorporates the research and writings of Dr. Daniel Goleman, utilizing the five domains of emotional intellligence to drive game based relationships: Self-Understanding, Feelings Management, Impulse Control, Recognition of and Empathy for Emotions in Others, and the Ability to Handle Relationships with Others.
For those who are comfortable in social situations, it can be a surprise that our words comprise only about 5-7% of human communication. Our game utilizes the nonverbal “Channels” that make up the “Language of Relationships” as advanced by Dr. Stephen Nowicki, Jr. and Dr. Marshall P. Duke: Rhythm, Interpersonal Space, Gesture and Postures, Facial Expressions, Paralanguage, and, Style of Dress into the center of the game play.
The game will undergo both focus and efficacy testing during development. Focus testing is used to confirm the game is enjoyed by the target audience, while the efficacy testing confirms the positive value of the product in the eyes of clinical professionals.