Virtual Heroes

Virtual Heroes, Inc. is a serious game developer in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. It was founded in 2004.

Virtual Heroes' initial projects focused on creating new technology and content for the U.S. Army game America's Army. The company has expanded to develop serious games, 3D computer simulations, and training applications. They also license the Unreal Engine in the government space through the Unreal Government Network.

Virtual Heroes, Inc. was founded by Jerry Heneghan, formerly at Tom Clancy's Red Storm Entertainment and Research Triangle Institute (RTI). In 2009, Virtual Heroes was acquired by Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA), a New Mexico-based scientific engineering and research firm. In 2012, Virtual Heroes became the Virtual Heroes Division of ARA managed by Randy Brown, formerly of Amoco, Digital Equipment Corporation, Data General, SAS Institute, SouthPeak Games and RTI International.

3DiTeams was developed in collaboration with Duke University Medical Center and used for medical education and team training. The game is intended for training and exercising of medical teams of practitioners of many levels of clinical expertise. The scope of practice of the tools in the game are geared toward care of a trauma patient and the interpersonal communications that surround the patient's care. The training is based on the United States Department of Defense Patient Safety Program and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's TeamSTEPPS curriculum. In 2006, the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), a division of the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, funded a one-year $249,530 award to support the "3DiTeams: Gaming Environment for Training Healthcare Team Coordination Skills" study. The team was also awarded a 2-year $291,248 grant from the NIH Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for their study on "Virtual Health Care Environments Versus Traditional Interactive Team Training."