In the MMORPG EVE Online a project is running where gamers support science through their gameplay. Currently, they are providing valuable data for cancer research. A professor emphasizes how important gamers are for research and that it should change the world’s perception of gaming.
What is this project about?
- The project is called “Project Discovery” and takes place in the MMORPG EVE Online.
- Players help analyze scientific data by playing mini-games in EVE Online.
- In the game, they receive rewards, and science obtains valuable data. Players analyze data better through their gameplay than scientists could. And not because they are more attentive, but because there are simply so many gamers.
Mini-games in EVE Online help with cancer research
How does it work? As can be seen in a German YouTube video, earlier mini-games in EVE Online revolved around framing clusters of points and marking a cluster.
In the last two phases, players dealt with data that pertained to the human body’s immune system. They searched for different cell types in the blood.
On the project’s website, it says (via eve):
You will analyze data produced by flow cytometers. With a tracing tool to draw polygons around cell clusters, you will help analyze crucial cancer-related data and train AI models to deliver results with comparable accuracy.
This effort will help scientists decipher how our immune systems interact with cancer and fight it, paving the way for potential breakthroughs in treatment and understanding.
Many do it for the rewards – Others for the pride of helping science
Why do players participate? As the creative director of EVE Online knows, many players participate in Project Discovery for the in-game rewards. But there are also some who join out of pride to be involved in such a science project.
This way, even non-scientists engage with science.
500 players are better than 1 scientist
Why are players important for cancer research? Dr. Ryan Brinkmann says:
The question everyone asks is: Can gamers do what scientists do? We had scientists sit down and play the game that players play day in and day out, and we asked them to analyze the data as best as they could. And then we compared these scientists with hundreds of players analyzing the same action.
Here we could leverage the opportunity, because unlike a scientist who looks at one graphic, we have 500 players looking at that one graphic. We have developed some bioinformatics mathematical technologies to sift through these 500 players to filter out what we believe are the best solutions. When we compare these best solutions with those of the scientists… the players perform better. That’s the real reason players perform better because there are more of them.
The advantage is that 500 players doing it on the side achieve better results than a scientist doing it professionally.
Players are a vital tool in shaping the future of science
And what impact does this have: Jerome Waldispuhl, professor of computer science at McGill University says:
Project Discovery is about giving players the opportunity to contribute to science. What is special about it is that it also shows that games are a vital tool for shaping the future of science…
This community really contributes to changing society by basically bringing this collective power to integrate science into society through a digital game. And I think that should drastically change the perception that everyone has of what games bring to the world today.
Such actions are certainly suitable for positively shaping the public image of gaming and MMORPGs. Just a few years ago, gaming was often reported negatively in the media: “Gaming Disorder” – Are we all sick?
