Why are video games the key to modern science? “Video gamers spend tons of time — for many it’s 10,000 hours by age 21 — battling mythic monsters, shooting aliens and rescuing princesses from digital castles.”
To harness these efforts, CMU faculty member (and UW CSE PhD alum) Adrien Treuille created two online games — Foldit and EteRNA — “that put video gamers to work solving epic scientific puzzles.” And the results have been staggering. For example, as reported in the journal Nature earlier this month, Foldit players helped solve a puzzle about proteins that could further research into HIV/AIDS.
“Treuille has high hopes for gaming’s potential to unlock good in humanity — and impact the real world. ‘People can solve much more complex problems online at the edge of human knowledge, and I think we’ve just scratched the surface.'”
Read the full CNN article here.