Discrete SIR Games for Understanding Epidemics

This project was completed under the requirements for graduation with a Master's of Science in Computer Science at the University of Edinburgh and was submitted on August 15th, 2017. As of October 20th, 2017, it has been accepted as a Master's Thesis. This project was completed in the Unity IDE over the course of two months. All art assets were acquired off the Unity Asset Store. The current prototype can be accessed via itch.io.

The work contained within sought to develop a digital game that conveyed the core principles of the SIR model for epidemics and improve the learning outcomes for students when learning this model. Initial work resulted in a simple C# that simulated the SIR model. This was then extended to become the central behavior in a short game. Both the simple script and the model in the game were evaluated to ensure their accurate portrayal of the model. The prototype for this game was then deployed to several participants in two short evaluation experiments. Though neither work demonstrated a conclusive trend, the work within provides some insight into creating a game that conveys information about the SIR model of epidemics. The full manuscript can be downloaded here.