Hard research

Let the games begin

Science

Let the games begin

In addition to providing insights into pharmaceutical research, the Wonders of Medicine exhibition at the Novartis Pavillon also allows visitors to immerse themselves in virtual worlds and play video games. Future visitors will learn more about the industry and its complexities in an interactive way, living up to the ancient Latin phrase ludi incipiant.

Text by Egecan Huesemoglu, photos by Adriano A. Biondo

What seems so casual in the game took months of preparation.

Table of contents

Hard research

Let the games begin

Published on 09/05/2022

Anyone who wants to delve into the video game universe has plenty of genres to choose from. No matter if alone or in a group, today’s gaming possibilities are virtually limitless.

The same goes for the complexity of games. Whereas lightweight puzzle games with mass appeal are better suited for short sessions, complex strategy titles can keep gamers glued to their monitors for several hours, if not days or weeks.

Yet, if you search for a game that allows players to delve deeper into the world of drug development, the result is quite unsatisfactory: With a few exceptions, there is hardly a single video game that explicitly deals with the topic.

However, this is set to change with the inauguration of the Novartis Pavillon. The interactive science exhibition Wonders of Medicine, which forms the centerpiece of the building, takes a gamification approach to introduce visitors to the intricacies of science in a playful way.

Staging healthcare

Gamification is the term used to describe the incorporation of game elements into non-game contexts. In other words, contents that may seem somewhat abstract and dry at first glance are presented and structured in such a way that people are encouraged to actively take part in the learning process, thus enhancing the overall experience.

Today, gamification is used in various areas, including healthcare. For instance, Deutsche Telekom collaborated with British neurologists and the software company Glitchers to develop the game Sea Hero Quest, which collects behavioral data related to spatial orientation to help dementia research gain fresh insights.

The game, which was launched in 2016 and has been downloaded more than four million times to date, follows a simple principle: At the beginning of each game, a map is displayed showing the locations of three buoys. The player must memorize their positions and navigate them in the right order. The “biggest dementia study of all time,” as it is occasionally referred to, aims to clarify how the ability to maintain orientation changes with age.

Gamification is also becoming increasingly popular in medical training. One example is Emerge – an emergency room simulation designed by the university hospitals of Hamburg-Eppendorf and Goettingen. In this PC game, medical students slip into the role of a physician and must demonstrate their skills under pressure.

Novartis is also capitalizing on this game instinct. In a bid to make its research activities accessible to a broader audience and engage in an open dialogue with the public, Novartis commissioned design studio Atelier Brueckner to develop a short, yet sophisticated exhibition for the Pavillon.

Atelier Brueckner, which has earned an international reputation for exhibition design and scenography, was tasked with creating spaces and installations that help deliver complex scientific knowledge with ease and fun.

The Stuttgart-based design firm has already realized several high-profile projects, such as the Grand Egyptian Museum built at the foot of the Giza pyramids, which teleports visitors back to the era of ancient Egyptian civilization and the mighty pharaohs.

David Woodruff and Robert Schrem during one of numerous meetings.

Hard research

Elisabeth Ramm, Lead Concept Design at Atelier Brueckner, who was instrumental in fleshing out the exhibition’s concept, emphasizes that it was no easy task to synthesize disjointed medical and pharmaceutical knowledge into a coherent exhibition while using a powerful and concise visual language. “It took us about 15 workshops to come up with the initial concept,” the designer explained. “This was largely due to the immense complexity of the subject matter.”

The permanent exhibition, located on the second floor of the Pavillon, begins with a short introductory film about the history of the pharmaceutical industry. This is followed by individual thematic sections, arranged by category, and includes contributions from researchers, experts and patients. There is no lack of multimedia content and interactive elements showcasing how a drug is developed and what it takes to get it approved.

“Our aim was to show the laborious path from the laboratory to the patient, which usually takes many years, in detailed, striking and yet clear fashion,” Ramm said.

To render this intricate world experienceable and tangible, Atelier Brueckner also brought game and video developers on board. One of them was Uli Matheus, Creative Producer at Amplify Design.

Even though he had a wealth of experience in game development, the foray into the world of medicine proved anything but easy: “We had to delve deep into the field and do a lot of research once we started working on the games,” Matheus recalls. “It felt a bit like studying medicine, since I had to acquire the necessary expertise first.” Despite the grueling task, Matheus and his colleagues developed a series of video games that are likely to captivate young and old alike.

This isn’t just some edgy shooter game. The development of a drug, even in game form, requires above all patience and perseverance.

Let the games begin

One of the games requires players to steer an initially free-floating molecule, which appears on an interactive 3D screen, to fit into a corresponding receptor of a target protein – like a jigsaw piece. In this way, players are able to experience the research process in virtual reality. Researchers at Novartis are also making use of virtual reality solutions – albeit not for fun, but to analyze and optimize the chemical structure of promising compounds at the nanoscale.

In another game, which leverages augmented reality, players must build a production line for a new drug in pill form. The touch screen shows the steps and equipment necessary for the manufacturing process, which need to be arranged in the right sequence on the virtual factory floor.

Another video game, which stands out for its similarity to Guitar Hero, a once hugely popular music rhythm video game series, illustrates the legal hurdles that are part of every drug approval. In this game, lines which run in parallel like guitar strings represent a selected set of countries in which a product is to be launched.

The task is to press the correct “string key” at the right moment and thereby initiate the necessary regulatory steps so that patients can receive the most innovative drugs and therapies. This not only requires intuition, but also a great deal of coordination and perseverance – equally in the virtual as in the analog world.

“In developing the games, we tried to strike a balance between imparting knowledge and providing entertainment,” Matheus said when talking about the philosophy with which he and his team approached the task. “At the beginning, everyone was nervous, as the area of the life sciences was uncharted territory for us. Nevertheless, we managed to create games that should appeal to both casual gamers and professionals.”

Inspiring the future

With the rapid advancement of digitization, the approach of game-based learning is gaining momentum. Whether in school, university or research, gamification is used in many areas today. The fact is, however, that so far only a few game developers have dared to venture into the complex world of medicine.

To fill this gap and acquaint a broad audience with the work of a pharmaceutical company, the minds behind the exhibition have transformed everyday pharmaceutical practice into captivating video games that not only help cover healthcare topics in a fun way, but also set new standards through the use of innovative technologies, such as augmented reality and virtual reality.

It remains to be seen whether the exhibition will inspire other companies to follow a similar path and increasingly rely on participatory communication formats. Perhaps it will even encourage one or two game developers to exploit the true potential of drug research and turn it into games that will one day take the market by storm.

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