Penn State Launches Massive Epidemic Game, Online Course

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Could Moocdemic 2.0 help prevent future outbreaks?

Moocdemic 2.0, a massive multiplayer epidemic game simulation developed by Penn State University, uses augmented reality to allow players to travel around the world and detect, spread, or even treat a virtual disease using their mobile phones. It supports Apple and Android devices and is completely free to play.

"The game allows players to experience a global disease outbreak in real time without being exposed to any real risk, other than game addiction" said developer and assistant professor Marcel Salathé. "Moocdemic is the first ever massive multiplayer epidemic game and is now being run again, with some updates, following last year's initial success."

The game is being run in parallel with a free massive open online course (MOOC) on epidemiology offered through Coursera. The course involves eight professors and has been rated the best scientific MOOC by a learner vote. "The game was a great illustration of many of the concepts in the course and allowed online learners to interact with each other and the course content in real time – and have fun doing it," according to course professor Matthew Ferrari.

Moocdemic is available to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of whether or not you're enrolled in the course. Using a browser-based application, you create an account accessible through a smartphone or computer. The application scans for diseases, or cases, using your location. As you move throughout your environment, you can pick up readings on nearby cases. Every new find, shareable via Facebook, Google+ or Twitter, rewards you points.

Six hours after the launch of the massively multiplayer online game in October of last year, more than 6,000 cases had been spotted throughout the U.S. and Asia. Eighteen hours later, than number grew to 10,000 and then doubled to 20,000. On Oct. 18, the first signs of epidemic sprouted in Egypt.

According to Marcel Salathé, an instructor for the course and infectious disease biologist at the university, cases have since been discovered "pretty much every place other than Antarctica." Technology makes everything easier to watch.

"Epidemics are about something spreading and infecting other people," Salathé said. "Now we're all walking around with these mobile devices that know where we are. We all have our mobile phones – these mini computers – with us every day. The whole world is going mobile and smartphones are everywhere, even in places that we didn't have access to information about."

Although Moocdemic is a game, its greatest teaching moment about infection and control will likely be found in this idea of spread, Salathé said. He expects the scope of disease to really hit home when players begin to see how far a strain can travel.

"Infectious disease is all about this network effect," Salathé said. "It's not about how many people you infect. They will infect people. They will infect their friends, their friends' friends, and so on, and you have this explosive effect."