{"id":14668,"date":"2020-04-08T10:30:14","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.yorku.ca\/?p=14668"},"modified":"2020-04-08T10:30:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T14:30:14","slug":"online-video-game-brings-to-life-the-impact-of-staying-home-during-covid-19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/news\/2020\/04\/08\/online-video-game-brings-to-life-the-impact-of-staying-home-during-covid-19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Online video game brings to life the impact of staying home during COVID-19 pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0#StayHome To Win<\/strong><\/p>\n

TORONTO, Wednesday, April 8, 2020<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 A new online game set in an immersive science fiction storyworld but informed by real-world public health challenges was launched today by York University researchers. Shadowpox: #StayHome Edition<\/a> helps players visualize \u2013 in a fun and engaging way \u2013 the impact of deciding to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect on their community if they do not.<\/p>\n

\u201cImagining a deadly new virus composed of shadows, Shadowpox<\/em> uses \u2018co-immunity\u2019 as a metaphor for the power we each have to make choices that will have a destructive or constructive effect on the people and the world around us,\u201d says Alison Humphrey, who created the transmedia storyworld as part of her doctoral research in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design at York University. \u201cThe Shadowpox<\/em> game design is simple and playful, but it hinges on a potentially life-or-death decision each of us is now making every day.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The new online game is based on the\u00a0full-body videogame\u00a0Shadowpox: The Antibody Politic<\/a>, which was designed to make visible the invisible consequences of an individual\u2019s immunization choices. That work debuted as part of the exhibition <Immune Nations><\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0opening at the 2017\u00a0Conference on Global Health and Vaccination Research<\/a>\u00a0in Trondheim, Norway, and then touring to Geneva, Switzerland during the\u00a070th Assembly of the World Health Organization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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As Humphrey watched the WHO declare COVID-19 a pandemic last month, she started thinking about how to adapt the existing game as a contribution to the global campaign to \u201cflatten the curve\u201d through social distancing. The original Shadowpox team ramped up for a #StayHome reboot in just two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game starts with a choice: \u2018Stay Home\u2019 or \u2018Go Out\u2019. Your character is asymptomatic and unaware they\u2019re infected, so if you choose to \u2018Go Out,\u2019 you\u2019re shedding viral shadowpox circles everywhere you go,\u201d says Humphrey. \u201cMeanwhile, 99 other people in your neighbourhood are going about their business \u2013 maybe they\u2019re key workers, or getting their once-a-week groceries. Each one that meets you or crosses your trail has a 50 percent chance of becoming infected. Of those, one in five will need hospital care, and one percent may die. At the end of the game, you get an overall \u2018infection score,\u2019 but more importantly, you get a rare glimpse into the lives your choice affected.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why #StayHome<\/a>? "Shadowpox: #StayHome<\/a> Edition", new online game by @alisonhum<\/a> and informed by data from @gstrategylab<\/a> helps players visualize \u2013 in a fun and engaging way \u2013 the impact of deciding to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch \ud83d\udcfa
Read more: https:\/\/t.co\/kfMcJlGADw<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/yQUy3Q7az0<\/a><\/p>\n

— York University News (@YorkUnews) April 8, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n