National Geographic channel recently launched its eight episode mini-series based on journalist Martha Raddatz’s non-fiction account of “Black Sunday” in her book The Long Road Home. The story chronicles the experiences of soldiers ambushed in Iraq in 2004, the ensuing battle and the efforts to bring them back. It is a gripping tale of war, heroism and tragedy. The story also humanizes the soldiers, touches on their family relationships and demonstrates that there is more to war than the battlefield.
It is hard to escape the seeming correlation of events depicted in the docudrama and the national health concerns related to returning soldiers with PTSD. Nat Geo and their agency partner 360i recognized this and thought about what they could do to give back to the war veteran community. That thinking led to them engaging XAPPmedia to design and build the new Google Assistant app called Bravo Tango, a military-inspired abbreviation for “brain training.” It is developed to help soldiers returning from combat in their ongoing efforts to readjust to civilian society. The app design was supported by Air Force combat veteran and psychologist Michael Valdovinos.
A Voice App That Matters
We think about Bravo Tango as a voice app that matters and are proud that Nat Geo and 360i tapped XAPPmedia to design and build the Google Assistant app. XAPP takes all of our client work seriously. Whether it is an insurance provider looking to engage consumers, a healthy snack food company or a radio broadcaster, all have specific objectives that we work hard to fulfill. We take great pride in our extensive customer work. You can imagine that Bravo Tango provides an even greater sense of contribution.
Bravo Tango includes brain training and mindfulness techniques and exercises designed to help veterans better deal with the stresses that often remain after war ends. Anyone can benefit from the lessons though the app design starts from the perspective of a veteran as the user. The app includes six exercises and also contains information about resources that are available to veterans in need. We are happy that it has sparked broad interest ranging from general interest media like USA Today to mental health publication such as Psychology Today.
A Lot of Voice Apps are Helpful, but This App Actually Helps
We were very happy in the design process to conduct 18 interviews with veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — several of whom were involved in the subsequent testing. Their input greatly improved the user experience by ensuring its relevance for veterans. Voice technology is so convenient for users that there are many voice apps that are helpful. We like to think of Bravo Tango as the voice app that helps.
Anyone can access Bravo Tango through Google Home devices or Google Assistant on Android and iOS smartphones by saying, “Okay Google, talk to Bravo Tango.” Let us know what you think. Or, better yet, recommend Bravo Tango to a veteran.
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