A radical project: video game design meets cancer research
A radical project: video game design meets cancer research
A radical project: video game design meets cancer research
By Lilly Maston
December 1, 2022
Summary
When Professor Greg Hannon and his team of international researchers were awarded £20m to develop a new way for scientists to study tumours, the worlds of cancer research and virtual reality have collided.
This is thanks to Cancer Grand Challenges, a funding initiative co-founded by Cancer Research UK and the US National Cancer Institute.
These are exact models of unprecedented size and detail, and can be viewed, explored and studied from the inside using VR. Moreover, the team has also created a unique VR cancer lab called Project Theia, where researchers can examine these models and do their research together, no matter where in the world they actually are.
Now, on 1st December 2022, after seeing exceptional responses in trials earlier this year, the IMAXT team has released its software to the wider academic cancer research community.
"Greg explained that he wanted to visualise breast cancer and use virtual reality to generate new treatments for it. At the time, my aunt, who I was very close with and was one of the most important people in my life, had her breast cancer come back. So I was very motivated to get involved."
Perhaps the biggest one for Harris was the amount of the data cancer research generates.
Cancer research and video game design also have quite a bit in common.
Reference
Matson, L. (2022, December 1). Video game design meets cancer research - cancer research UK. Cancer Research UK - Cancer news. Retrieved January 10, 2023, from https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2022/12/01/a-radical-project-video-game-design-meets-cancer-research/