Skip to main content

Serious Game for Quantum Research

  • Conference paper
Book cover Serious Games Development and Applications (SGDA 2013)

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the development and evaluation of a game designed to harness non-expert human intuition for scientific research in the field of Quantum Physics (Quantum Information). Since many physics problems are represented and analysed in a geometric space, we hypothesized that human predispositions such as geo-spatial intuition could be considered as a means to reduce the search space in some optimisation problems in quantum information which are currently solved through brute force approaches. We developed a 3D digital game in order to investigate players’ ability to solve a known and quantifiable current research problem in quantum physics. In this article, we describe our motivations for conducting this work, the game design and its implementation, our experimental design and an analysis of the results obtained via player evaluation. Initial results are promising, indicating that players can indeed find known solutions to the example problem.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Cooper, et al.: Predicting protein structures with a multiplayer online game. Nature 466, 756–760 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Marsh, T.: Serious games continuum: Between games for purpose and experiential environments for purpose. Entertainment Computing 2, 61 (2011) ISSN 1875-9521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Boyle, E., Connolly, T.M., Hainey, T.: The role of psychology in understanding the impact of computer games. Entertainment Computing 2, 69 (2011) ISSN 1875-9521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. von Ahn, L., Dabbish, L.: Designing games with a purpose. Commun. ACM 51, 58 (2008) ISSN 0001-0782

    Google Scholar 

  5. McGonigal, J.: Gaming can make a better world (2010), http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

  6. Cooper, S., Treuille, A., Barbero, J., Popović, Z., Baker, D., Salesin, D.: Foldit, http://fold.it/portal/

  7. Khatib, F., DiMai, F.: Foldit Contenders Group, Foldit Void Crushers Group. In: Cooper, S., Kazmierczyk, M., Gilski, M., Krzywda, S., Zabranska, H., Pichova, I., et al. (eds.) Crystal Structure of a Monomeric Retroviral Protease Solved by Protein Folding Game Players, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, vol. 18, p. 1175 (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Eiben, C.B., Siegel, J.B., Bale, J.B., Cooper, S., Khatib, F., Shen, B.W., Players, F., Stoddard, B.L., Popović, Z., Baker, D.: Increased diels-alderase activity through backbone remodeling guided by foldit players. Nature Biotechnology 30, 190 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Hart, W.E., Istrail, S.: Robust proofs of np-hardness for protein folding: general lattices and energy potentials. Journal of Computational Biology 4, 1 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Steinhöfel, K., Skaliotis, A., Albrecht, A.: Relating time complexity of protein folding simulation to approximations of folding time. Computer Physics Communications 176, 465 (2007) ISSN 0010-4655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Khatib, F., Cooper, S., Tyka, M.D., Xu, K., Makedon, I., Popović, Z., Baker, D.: Algorithm discovery by protein folding game players. In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  12. CODER – Aarhus Universitet, “The Quantum Computer Game”, http://www.scienceathome.org (last visited June 24, 2013)

  13. MIT Game Lab, A Slower Speed of Light, http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/ (last visited June 24, 2013)

  14. Galaxy zoo, http://www.galaxyzoo.org/ (last visited June 24, 2013)

  15. Gasiorowicz, S.: Quantum Physics. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Nielsen, M.A., Chuang, I.L.: Quantum Computation and Quantum Information. Cambridge University Press (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Barnett, S.M.: Quantum Information, OMS in AOLP. Oxford University Press (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Breuer, H.-P.: Foundations and measures of quantum non-markovianity. Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics 45, 154001 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Breuer, H.-P., Laine, E.-M., Piilo, J.: Measure for the degree of non-markovian behavior of quantum processes in open systems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 210401 (2009)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  20. Haikka, P., McEndoo, S., De Chiara, G., Palma, G.M., Maniscalco, S.: Quantifying, characterizing, and controlling information flow in ultracold atomic gases. Phys. Rev. A 84, 031602 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Wißmann, S., Karlsson, A., Laine, E.-M., Piilo, J., Breuer, H.-P.: Optimal state pairs for non-markovian quantum dynamics. Phys. Rev. A 86, 062108 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Brown, O.T. et al. (2013). Serious Game for Quantum Research. In: Ma, M., Oliveira, M.F., Petersen, S., Hauge, J.B. (eds) Serious Games Development and Applications. SGDA 2013. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8101. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40790-1_17

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-40790-1_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-40789-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-40790-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics