He knows everything about rescuing fictional creatures, but gamers now exist called researchers to contribute to the greatest humanitarian crisis – the Covid-19 epidemic. So far, they have attended the event and donated 471 years of work.
In the opera house EVE Online, a mini-game called Finding a Job doubled as a citizen science platform, to study how the human immune system responds to the new coronavirus. Students take data analysis through games that help researchers isolate themselves on how to interpret clinical problems.
The project is coordinated with McGill University, British Columbia Cancer Research Center, University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Making it part of citizen science, EVE Online manufacturer CCP games work with Multiplication Science on the Internet (MMOS), a Swiss company that combines scientific research with sports to create non-sports games. According to a CCP Games spokesperson, there are 426,000 players taking part in the Covid-19 games at the moment, and they are completing 1.8 million screening activities since the project was launched in June 2020.
In the MMORPG competition, finding and retaining players is a challenge forever. On the subject of citizen science, says Bergur Finnbogason, director of EVE Online, retaining players is essential. Unlike computer programs such as SETI @ Home, which require electrical power, applications like these need to be installed by humans. And that’s why you need players who come back to play over and over again.
Even falling numbers, EVE Online still popular as one of the fastest online games – it already exists Warcraft World and a year and a half, and they have been called “without friends. ”Its vast universe, called Eden, contains about 8,000 stars. The game is basically a DIY space opera, where players — called capsuleers — start epic spaces that include exploration, mining, industry, and more. In addition, there are many pirates, as well as PvP and PvE fighters. In the midst of fighting for cosmic wealth and glory, the capsules may also take some time to advance critical research on Earth through Project Discovery. As a result, they are given the best sports equipment, such as clothing and facial expressions, not to mention the honor of having a share in the realities of science.
In a recent Project Discovery project, players help scientists discover how Covid-19 contributes to our immune system by testing the blood of those infected with HIV. “We created the interface with scientific servers… [through which] you can modify the data [into the game], ”Says Finnbogason. Players must locate and insert blood clots in the blood of Covid-19 infected patients using a diagnostic tool.
“Usually, it’s easier to see big and dangerous teams,” he says, “but the smaller the situation, the more money there is.” Several players work on the same data to match the clues. Once the data is sent back to the search and verification lab, the visual part of the field is restored to the game for players to review.
This technique enables scientists to identify areas that need to be monitored to understand disease in different cells and species. Contribution to the show, says David Ecker, director general of EVE Online, it helps to reduce the number of tasks that scientists would have to perform. Considering that there are fewer scientists compared to these actors, he adds, “we can just skip them ahead of many years of work, because [only] take a look at examples that our players saw as worth seeing. “
Most of the information provided by citizen scientists does not simply help researchers know about SARS-CoV2 infections. It will also provide training for artificial clients so that this type of approach can be self-sufficient in the future. Trained AIs can support not only Covid-19 research but also other diagnostics.