Summary

Virus Tracker is an educational game that simulates the spread of a virus and illustrates the critical role of vaccination in combating a disease outbreak. Players start out infected with the Virus Tracker ‘Zombie Virus’, and can attain a ‘Human’ state by getting vaccinated via interaction with other players. Vaccinated players can seek out and vaccinate infected players, earning points and game standings. Virus mutations occur periodically, requiring players to get the latest vaccine before returning to a Zombie state. Players can transition between the two states throughout the game, depending on their responsiveness to the mutations and their interactions with other players.

Purpose

This app is used as part of the Education and Outreach program at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech, at events that are hosted regularly both at Virginia Tech and other venues. The game is targeted primarily toward children in the 9 and above age range, but the activity will also be conducted with adults occasionally.

iOS Features Utilized

- QR Code Scanning – players interact with one-another by scanning QR Codes that are rendered by the app. Each player is assigned a numeric ID when they register. which is rendered as a QR Code in the app, and can be scanned by other app users
- Apple Push Notification Service – players are alerted to mutations, including a deadline and means for obtaining the new vaccine. If a player fails to obtain the latest vaccine before the deadline, they will be returned to a Zombie state, and will also receive a notification of the change. Receipt of game notifications is an option, wndhich can be set by the user via the app’s ‘Settings’ screen.

Data Collection and Transmission

The Virus Tracker app requires registration in order to participate in the game. Registration requires a user-created ScreenName and password. The ScreenName is stored in a back-end database, as is a hash of the password. The password is not stored. Additional information may be voluntarily provided upon registration, including age range, gender and zip code. (for statistics purposes) The player’s geolocation is also requested at registration, as well as during interactions, so that the spread of the can be shown (using tools outside of the app). No confidential information is collected by the app, and all communication with the server occurs via HTTPS. A player may decline to provide location information, and game play simply continues for the player. Each player’s unique numeric ID is also passed to the server during an interaction, as this is needed to determine the outcome of each interaction, as well as to compile virus transmission data and game points.

Data Rendering

User game data is accessible only while logged in, and only to the logged in user, There is a Leaderboard, however, which displays the most active players in terms of Zombie Virus infections, vaccinations and overall interactions. The leaderboard displays the top players’ ScreenNames and number of infections, inoculations and/or interactions. The purpose of the Leaderboard data is to both provide information and discussion topics for players and the educational hosts of the game, as well as to encourage game play and a friendly sense of competition among the players. This same information may be accessible via the web during and after an event, for the same purpose of education, discussion and entertainment.

Connectivity

As physical interaction (via scanning of QR Codes) and the tracking of player interactions is a critical part of this activity and app, connectivity is a requirement for successful use of the app. If connectivity cannot be obtained, the user is alerted to this, and given the opportunity to try reconnecting again, or returning to the unauthorized section of the app. The user may attempt to establish connectivity at any subsequent time.