Feasibility of Mobile Augmented Reality Intervention Preventing Youth Alcohol Use



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the proposed project is to leverage a widely disseminated elementary alcohol and other drug use prevention curriculum to create a mobile version that enhances engagement and promotes transfer of learning to out of class decisions. The project represents a collaboration among three businesses dedicated to innovative use of technology for alcohol prevention. REAL Prevention (RP), the lead business, is a LLC dedicated to commercializing innovative technologies for delivering evidence-based health promotion practices. RP's communication expertise is in designing narrative-based prevention interventions to engage youth audiences. RP is partnering with Verasim (VS), a company specializing in developing Augmented Reality (AR) approaches to mobilizing health interventions using technology, and with D.A.R.E. America, one of the largest providers of school-based alcohol and other drug prevention education, to create a modern and mobile learning experience for preventing youth substance use. This Phase I SBIR will demonstrate the feasibility of delivering a mobile version of the 5th grade keepin' it REAL (kiR) social and emotional development and alcohol prevention curriculum using VS's 3-D proprietary AR technology and create a novel real-world decision making tool for guided decision making and risk assessment within and beyond the classroom. This product leverages Augmented Reality to track the transfer of learning to environments outside of the classroom. The relatively high prevalence of adolescent alcohol use in the U.S. with severe consequences such as increased risk of lifetime addiction and other attendant adverse physical and mental health outcomes, underscores the importance of implementing evidence-based efforts in late childhood and early adolescence to prevent adolescent alcohol use. This project will develop a prototype of the 5th grade EkiR Mobile technology, pilot test EkiR Mobile and revise as needed, conduct an independent usability evaluation of the product to determine feasibility, and develop a plan for revising EkiR mobile based on these assessments. In Phase II a national RCT will be conducted in D.A.R.E. classrooms across the United States to establish effectiveness. If successful, the commercial potential of the project is great given the use of kiR by organizations internationally. D.A.R.E.'s reach, alone, is 2.5 million youth.