SMU Guildhall will celebrate the alpha launch of a new technology that will help fight diseases such as cancer and macular degeneration in an event Thursday.
Called HEWMEN, the technology designed by SMU Guildhall faculty members uses online actions in Minecraft and other games to fight diseases. It is the product of Balanced Media Technology, a company founded by Rob Atkins and Corey Clark, who are both faculty members in the university’s graduate video game development program.
GUILDHALL HELPS FIGHT CANCER WITH GAMES
Earlier this year, game developers and researchers at SMU announced they were partnering with a worldwide network of gamers who play the popular Minecraft game in a crowdsourcing effort to beat cancer and other diseases.
According to a release, HEWMEN is the latest step in that effort and is a “data-processing and distributed computing technology that executes machine-learning algorithms coupled with human-guided interactions and integrates research data on cancer-fighting drugs.”
HEWMEN captures user actions during gameplay in a specially-designed Minecraft mod, as well as purpose-built games, the release said.
During the online-only launch event from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, four popular Minecraft streamers will play live online at Mixer.com, and viewers can participate.
Here’s how, according to the university:
- At 6 p.m. on Dec. 21 tune into Mixer.com and your favorite streamer: GhostfromTexas, Direwolf20, TangoTek, or ImpulseSV.
- Install HEWMEN at hewmen.io/alpha/
- From the HEWMEN client there are going to be two early access games: Wiley Wizard and Eye In Sky: Defender
- Play those minigames anytime to earn credits to spend during the live stream
- With the credits, players can interact with streamers live while they play Minecraft mod during event
Organizers said that giveaways sponsored by Special Reserve Games will take place during the event, and participants will be invited to donate to Child’s Play Charity.
READ MORE
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