You might have heard about what happened back in 2011. An amazing event. What took biologist more than a decade, was done in less than three weeks by gamers. I’m referring to the Mason Pfizer Monkey Virus, a virus that is specifically related to the autoimmune disease called AIDS. While biologists have spent years trying to figure out what the structure of the virus looked like, gamers uncovered it in less than 1/100th of that time. So why did gamers manage to do the impossible?
There seem to be two main reasons that explains why gamers, without any biological background, could figure out a mystery that was unsolved for a decade. These reasons are motivation and teamwork. The first reason, motivation, comes in the form of competition, and from this stand point, the game has been more than suitably designed. Basically you get scored for three factors: how well you pack the protein, how efficiently you hide the hydrophobic and how you clear the clashes. Trust me, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds. When the gamers start working on this game, the terms were simplified and the rules of the game just complicated enough to make it an interesting task. Furthermore, the gamers felt a sense of competition that made them want to “win” by performing as best as possible. The game ranked all players and provided a “high score” ranking. For all these reasons, the gamers who decided to tackle this game (60,000 of them) were much more motivated to spend time on the problem.
The second reason is teamwork. While the game had a competitive edge to it, players were able to see the progress of other players. This allowed them to possibly “cheat” on their assignments by getting a head start through information shown by other players. Together, the collaborative brain power of all the 60,000 participants was far more productive than any single scientist could be. Being in connection with all other players also allowed players to team up and come up with strategies together, once again increasing efficiency.
This game showed the true potential of using the combined power of gamers to resolve problems that are threatening to the entire society. Therefore, over the years, more of these games have started appear throughout the world. One of the latest projects that is being launched is called “Automon”. This is a game launched by the Dutch police, in which Dutch citizens can gain points if they find stolen cars. This could be a huge game changer (pun intended) in the way communities work together to solve problems such as crime, diseases and pretty much anything you can think of. To conclude, the everyday gamers of today’s society could soon become the heroes of our time.
Coren, M. (2017). Foldit Gamers Solve Riddle of HIV Enzyme within 3 Weeks. [online] Scientific American. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/foldit-gamers-solve-riddle/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
Nu.nl. (2017). Politie maakt ‘Pókemon-app’ die helpt met opsporen gestolen auto’s. [online] Available at: https://www.nu.nl/apps/4953830/politie-maakt-pokemon-app-helpt-met-opsporen-gestolen-autos.html [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
