Federal funding will go towards further developing immersive video game where players learn the Anishinaabe language, culture and ways of life

TORONTO, June 4, 2024 鈥� , a sociology professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Glendon Campus, is the recipient of for her Indigenous-led metaverse project Biskaabiiyaang: Creating a path towards healing and reconciliation. , associate professor in theatre and creative technologies at 91亚色鈥檚 School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (AMPD), is a co-applicant. Robyn O鈥橪oughlin joins the team as co-applicant working within the New Brunswick Ministry of Education. 91亚色 and the are also partners in the grant application. The award was created in response to Call to Action 65 to establish a national research program to advance understanding of reconciliation. It is a joint initiative of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Chacaby鈥檚 immersive virtual game is set in a post-apocalyptic world invaded by linguicidals responsible for the death of the Ojibwe language Anishinaabemowin. It challenges players to learn the language 鈥� and save it from extinction 鈥� by exploring ruins, listening to the teachings of Elders and taking lessons from nature. Players discover how Indigenous history and culture have a role in returning beauty and magic to this world where Anishinaabe ways of life prevail. As an Indigenous community-led research project, Nokiiwin Tribal Council guides the work ensuring that Indigenous communities are first and foremost in the project鈥檚 direction.

鈥淢etaverses, as we see them in the Western world, are spaces where Indigenous people do not exist,鈥� says Chacaby, who is Anishinaabe, Beaver Clan from Kaministiquia (Thunder Bay). 鈥淭hat is a form of colonial erasure happening in these new technologies that I really want to disrupt.鈥� Part of the groundbreaking interdisciplinary research program Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society, Biskaabiiyaang works to address the impacts of colonization on Indigenous communities, support culture-based healing practices and encourage language reclamation.

Chacaby, a research associate with the Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages, has long promoted Anishinaabe culture and language through courses she鈥檚 developed at Glendon. In 2016, for her online classes, she crafted a Dungeons and Dragons-style, card-based role-playing game in Anishinaabemowin. This gamified approach to learning led to soaring proficiency levels, with grammar and other difficult areas of language acquisition becoming easier as students developed characters and completed quests. But Chacaby wanted anyone to have access to this education. That鈥檚 where the metaverse came in.

An avid gamer, Chacaby noted how within massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft and Fallout, players use and coin terms that are only understood by other users and immediate team members. That made her realize these virtual worlds were environments ripe for learning. 鈥淚 thought, 鈥業f young people can talk in this very sophisticated technical language about a made up world, we can do the exact same thing with the culture鈥�,鈥� says Chacaby.

The project uses research-creation methodologies to build an audio and visual archive that is the foundation of the Biskaabiiyaang metaverse. Scott Baker, the education manager for the Nokiiwin Tribal Council, describes his excitement about Elders鈥� teachings making their way into the virtual world. 鈥淲hat the SSHRC grant is going to open up for us is to start collecting these stories,鈥� says Baker.

鈥淲e're actually documenting stories and teachings, and these will live long beyond when I'm gone,鈥� says Audrey Gilbeau, executive director of the Tribal Council. A co-creation with community Elders and Indigenous youth, the virtual world is a community-built and -owned archive that鈥檚 alive, growing and changing. She says that Elders and Knowledge Keepers who have passed away over the past five years, since work on Biskaabiiyaang began, continue to live on in the recordings and stories captured in the project.

The best way for a community to hold an archive is in a format that people can access, says Caines, adding: 鈥淭he metaverse is the archive.鈥� The researchers have partnered with , a virtual world platform, to build the metaverse and bring the archive to life. Content in the metaverse is based upon Anishinaabe worldview and culture as well as family histories and individuals鈥� lived experiences. The virtual world is a place where players learn by undertaking quests and interacting with traditional tools and objects, teachings, and language learning modules using culture-based game mechanics.

In partnership with AMPD鈥檚 new program opening at Markham Campus, undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral research fellows will come together with Indigenous teens from the region to work on the metaverse at the new facilities, as well as gain on-site training in Northern Ontario. Biskaabiiyaang is the first step in a decade-long project running in tandem with the UNESCO International Decade of Indigenous Languages. A multi-year project, it is a direct response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Call to Action 65.

Visit the Biskaabiiyaang to learn more and download a free demonstration.

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TORONTO, July 21, 2016 鈭捖�91亚色 and Southlake Regional Health Centre, together with the University Health Network (UHN), will work to develop new technologies to improve the health of Canadians using a $15 million investment from the Government of Canada.

Today, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), announced the funding 聽at Southlake Regional Health Centre. FedDev Ontario鈥檚 investment will be matched by $19.5 million from 32 partners that are developing three dozen new health-care technologies, resulting in a total budget of $34.5 million for the project.

鈥�Our Government is committed to positioning Canada as a global centre for innovation 鈥� one that creates jobs, drives growth across all industries and improves the lives of all Canadians. Today鈥檚 announcement is a prime example of that policy in action. The most innovative solutions often happen when people from different fields collaborate, said the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario. "That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important for universities, health-care providers, the business community and government to work together. That鈥檚 how we will come up with health-care solutions that improve the quality of life for all Canadians.鈥�

The project, The Health Ecosphere: An Innovation Pipeline for Commercial Health Solutions brings researchers and scientists together with business to develop technologies to coordinate healthcare across systems that previously operated in silos.

鈥淭his important investment by the Government of Canada recognizes the critical role of innovation and knowledge mobilization in both health promotion and health care. It will enable 91亚色 to build on the success of our Connected Health and Wellness Project (), which demonstrated the power of providing individuals with the technology and tools they need to manage their health,鈥� said 91亚色 President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri. 鈥�91亚色 has collaborated with Southlake for many years, and we anticipate an even closer working relationship as we look forward to our new campus opening in Markham Centre.鈥�

91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health is the lead academic partner and administrative centre for the Health Ecosphere project. Southlake Regional Health Centre, the largest health-care facility in 91亚色 Region, will be the lead clinical partner, and UHN will play a major role as a key academic partner. Each institution is leading a suite of technologies to be developed and commercialized. Working together, they will create a health technology cluster in 91亚色 Region.

is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Through cross-discipline programming, innovative course design, diverse experiential learning and a supportive community environment, our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Located in Toronto, 91亚色 is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 295,000 alumni.

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Media Contact:
Barbara Joy, Media Relations, 91亚色, 416 736 2100 ext. 55593/ barbjoy@yorku.ca

BACKGROUNDER:

91亚色 collaborated with 18 partners on the Connected Health and Wellness Project, which also benefitted from significant federal government investment, and through that program developed a Certificate in Health Coaching program.

With the new funding announced today, 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Health will expand its Health Coach Institute by producing specialized continuing education and training modules for students enrolled in the certificate program. It will expand its training currently offered to health professionals who want to add health coaching to their practice 鈥� such as nurses, occupation and physical therapists, chiropractors, pharmacists, social workers, emergency services workers, clergy and law enforcement. The new training modules will focus on emerging practice areas for the Health Coach 鈥� Aboriginal health, youth mental health, aging, obesity, and diabetes.

In another 91亚色-led initiative within the project, Professor Paul Ritvo will team up with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and NexJ Health, Inc., a Toronto-based provider of health management software for patients, to test the effectiveness of internet-based, online interventions for aboriginal and non-aboriginal youth with diagnosed depressive and anxiety disorders. Ritvo has been researching youth-focused online interventions for five years and will be conducting two clinical trials.

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