Design Challenge
#3: How might we learn from COVID-19 to reimagine our future for life, work, learning and play?
Project Description
Everyone understands and interprets new measures differently. The human behavior on the ground could be drastically different from the intended.
Eg. Hawkers tend to shout out to the 2nd person in the queue while preparing the first. The 2nd person steps out to reply. As a result, the safety distance of 1m is not observed.
Adopting the principles of Gamification, we replicate the real world with Minecraft to educate users how to behave properly on the ground.
Players can build hawker centers or other buildings in Minecraft and interact with one another. We can also deploy social distancing ambassadors as avatars to enforce in a fun way.
Minecraft is a sandbox video game owned by Microsoft. This educational campaign can bridge the breakdown in communications and reduce conflicts.
Criteria #1: Value
It’s paramount for the people to understand and interpret measures correctly. The most effective method is to “demo” in an almost real life environment to convey the message and cut through the noises.
Criteria #2: Inspiration
Government agencies have tried a lot of methods but we have not achieved the desired outcomes.
This idea focuses on educating instead of enforcing. Trying to help the people to understand is a more emphatic way to handle such a situation at this moment.
Criteria #3: Impact
With better understanding of the good intentions and principles behind every measure, we can convey the intended message across quicker and have a longer lasting effect.
Criteria #4: Timeliness
Minecraft is an Open source platform which users can sign up easily and start playing immediately. When friends invite friends, the viral effect helps the user community to scale to reach large numbers in the fastest way possible.
Criteria #5: Systems Thinking
As in every business, there must be offline and online elements to reach out to users to create an omnichannel experience. Advocating on social media channels alone has its limit as not everyone is on Facebook and Instagram.
A novel platform that allows social interaction in a form of a game can appeal to masses where everyone is forced to stay at home.
