High-Level Project Summary
The “Evolution” project is a Role Playing Game (RPG) that takes the player through the challenges of the human body in spaceflight and the advances of biological research. With our storyline, we were able to explain those aspects easily and funnily, as well as excite the young generation about the theme and encourage them to follow careers associated with it. The fundamental aspect of Evolution is to provide accessibility to information, by using a format that is simple and practical, requiring only a die, a pen, and the game rules. Said game format has been going around since the 70s and has more than 50 millions active players. Evolution simplicity allows a quick spread around the world.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
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Space Agency Data
Using the 5 hazards of human spaceflight listed in the resources tab, our team locked in to see how to demonstrate them and their respective solutions with biological means already used by organisms on Earth. Then, when we asked ourselves how to portray space labs we relied on the text about NASA's Space Biology Program. We also used some of the risks listed in the Human Research Roadmap, such as the Risk of Bone Fracture due to Spaceflight-induced Changes to Bone. To understand and better portray the organisms that can deal with one or more of the risks from spaceflight we read NASA's Genelab Data Repository Search.
Hackathon Journey
Our hackathon journey has been astonishing. We learned a lot about space travel, biological research and the incredible and unique characteristics of many species, as well as the importance of promoting the accessibility of information regarding these topics. At the beginning, what led us to choose this challenge was because it was a challenge categorized as “space exploration”, and we wanted to choose something from this theme. Also, the striking title of "Build a Space Biology Superhero" caught our attention, and we were interested in learning more about it. Our goal during the construction of the challenge was to develop an analog design that would be easy to play and be a low cost solution. That's because, with these characteristics, the game could be completely developed by us, without the need for professional and high-cost assistance, such as a digital virtual reality game, for example (but we don't rule out the possibility of scaling the game to more advanced digital platforms).
To overcome the challenges that appeared during the hackathon journey, we relied heavily on the help of mentors. We consulted at least 10 different mentors, from different specialties who helped us with the clarification of doubts (about the veracity of the narrative, specific biological questions, the functionality of spaceships, among others) and suggestion of ideas (for the pitch, how to sell the game and the visual part). We would like to thank our teacher of Informatics Applied to Administration, Isabel Sartori, who encouraged us since the first day of class to participate in this marathon. We also want to thank the Cafeína team, former hackathon winners, who helped us in every step of the journey. To end, special thanks to all the mentors who helped us during these 3 days, in addition to our families, who support our careers, studies and choices.
References
https://humanresearchroadmap.nasa.gov/risks/
https://science.nasa.gov/biological-physical/programs/space-biology
https://www.nasa.gov/hrp/5-hazards-of-human-spaceflight
https://genelab-data.ndc.nasa.gov/genelab/projects/
https://www.space.com/3-international-space-station.html
https://www.climatempo.com.br/noticia/2015/08/06/5-planetas-mais-quentes-do-sistema-solar-4523