
NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
Recipient: |
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Initial Amendment Date: | August 16, 2016 |
Latest Amendment Date: | August 16, 2016 |
Award Number: | 1627539 |
Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
Program Manager: |
Wendy Nilsen
wnilsen@nsf.gov (703)292-2568 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
Start Date: | August 15, 2016 |
End Date: | July 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
Total Intended Award Amount: | $209,809.00 |
Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $209,809.00 |
Funds Obligated to Date: |
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History of Investigator: |
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Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1850 RESEARCH PARK DR STE 300 DAVIS CA US 95618-6153 (530)754-7700 |
Sponsor Congressional District: |
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Primary Place of Performance: |
CA US 95618-6153 |
Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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Parent UEI: |
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NSF Program(s): | CCRI-CISE Cmnty Rsrch Infrstrc |
Primary Program Source: |
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Program Reference Code(s): |
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Program Element Code(s): |
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Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
The focus for this project is the combination of crowdsourcing and computational biochemistry through the crowdsourcing video game Foldit. Foldit is an online multiplayer game that allows players to compete and collaborate to computationally fold and design proteins. Since its launch in 2008, it has had over 400,000 players, and demonstrated that by leveraging human problem solving and creativity, humans and computers can work together to solve previously unsolvable problems in computational structural biology. Foldit players have contributed toward solutions for two of the "holy grail" problems in computational structural biology: the protein folding problem and the protein design problem (also known as the inverse folding problem). The design of novel synthetic proteins is one of the most important tools in protein engineering, possibly leading us to a better understanding of the processes that underlie life and allowing the discovery of molecules with applications in health, energy, materials, and nanotechnology. As a new approach to addressing the challenges of purely computational approaches in biochemistry, the field of scientific discovery games has recently arisen to crowdsource solutions to computational biochemistry problems, by using human problem solving and creativity from members of the general public. The infrastructure supported by this project will enable new research in crowdsourcing and citizen science. The broader community will benefit from this infrastructure as a platform for crowdsourcing computational biochemistry.
This project aims to enhance the existing infrastructure of the Foldit game, and allow us to recast Foldit to tackle the next big challenges in computational structural biology (including design of enzymes and small molecules), while broadening the community of scientists involved and continuing to engage and educate the public. This project will support equipment and personnel needs for cloud hosting and maintenance, allowing improved robustness and collaborative access to resources, along with continued community outreach. Additionally, support will be provided for developing in-game tools for new applications in protein and small molecule design, new interfaces for scientists, touchscreen and multi-touch support, and a new pipeline for crowdsourced biochemistry challenges. Enhancements made to the game client will be made available via Foldit Standalone -- a non-competitive version of the game that allows researchers to load in and work on their own structures. Educators will be able to use the game as a teaching tool for introducing biochemistry to classrooms, where it is already being used for lectures, lab exercises, homework assignments, and even in textbooks and MOOCs. Foldit has been used by winning student teams in iGEM -- the premiere international design competition for students in synthetic biology. The Foldit website (http://fold.it/) provides access to the online multiplayer game and resources for educators and researchers.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project investigated the role of narrative in video games for citizen science, with the goal of enhancing the citizen science game Foldit. An qualitative study of all existing narrativized citizen science games (including Eyewire, Genes in Space, Forgotten Island, EVE Online Project Discovery, and many others) was conducted, concluding that distinctive narrative elements from the genre of science fiction effectively serve to situate participants of citizen science games in relation to imaginable outcomes of scientific research, while also contextualizing these outcomes in regard to social and ethical implications. Narrative frameworks in general also offer additional conceptual coherence and extrinsic motivation for players to participate in citizen science projects. A new science fiction narrative "wrapper" was developed for the tutorial levels of Foldit, providing scientific context and social meanings for the tools and concepts introduced in each tutorial puzzle. Feedback from Foldit players about the current tutorial puzzles guided creative design and content decisions for the new narrative. The narrative wrapper—presented in the format of a graphic novel that links tutorial puzzles to particular moments of the plot arc—was tested by biochemistry students as well as media scholars and game designers. The completed narrativized version of Foldit was also exhibited as part of a video games exhibition at an art gallery in Irvine, California, and gallery visitors were invited to play. Results so far indicate that the new narrative helps to explicate the intent and affordances of tools that are introduced in the tutorial levels and that allow players to contribute to the more advanced research puzzles of Foldit. The narrative wrapper also helps to explain the concepts and benefits of citizen science as a field of practice, as well as the specific reasons why the gamification of human–computer interactions is effective for research in computational biochemistry. Results also indicate that the narrative wrapper, by providing a linear pathway and a story context for each tutorial level, encourages players to progress through the training tutorials further than they would without the narrative framework. Additional development and testing of the narrative framework based on these initial results will continue.
Last Modified: 01/06/2020
Modified by: Colin Milburn
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