- The world's first mobile game where anyone can help scientists fight dementia
- The game has amassed more than 1 million downloads just two weeks after launch
Deutsche Telekom, alongside international partners from research and academia are supporting dementia research, make it possible. Just two weeks after its launch, more than a million people around the world have downloaded the mobile game. With an average rating of five stars across more than 45,000 reviews in App Store and Google Play, player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Thanks to Sea Hero Quest, dementia research has taken a huge step forward. The basic concept of the project was to harness just some of the 3 billion hours we spend gaming each week and allow people to share their time to help scientists to gather valuable navigational data, generated through gameplay. Hans-Christian Schwingen, Chief Brand Officer at Deutsche Telekom, commented: "The positive response to the project has been overwhelming. People around the world have been inspired to download Sea Hero Quest and game for good. Together, they reached a gaming time of more than 11 years. The game has entered the top 10 in over 50 markets combined between the App Store and Google Play. That's already a spectacular success for research and science in the fight against dementia."
University College London will lead the analysis of the anonymous data generated by the game over the coming months. Prof. Michael Hornberger, Professor for dementia research at the University of East Anglia and one of the lead scientists on the project commented: "The navigation data that players of Sea Hero Quest have generated so far would have taken scientists more than 1,500 years to collect in lab based settings. In order to create a true benchmark for human spatial navigation, it is important that as many gamers as possible from different countries, players of different ages and gender all take part, answer the key science questions and game for good!”
For many people living with dementia, one of the first effects they experience is a loss of spatial awareness, as they lose the ability to navigate their way through even well-known places and environments. Creating a global benchmark for how we navigate is widely acknowledged as one of the key steps towards developing new diagnostic tests for the diseases that cause dementia. Through Sea Hero Quest, researchers are provided with anonymous game data about the navigational behavior and spatial orientation of each player.
Deutsche Telekom developed Game for Good in close collaboration with Alzheimer's Research, University College London, the University of East Anglia and game developers Glitchers. Sea Hero Quest is available worldwide for iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded for free from the App Store and Google Play.
More information about the research project and the game is available under www.seaheroquest.com
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for businesses and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom has a presence in more than 50 countries and employs about 225,200 people worldwide. The Group generated revenues of 69.2 billion euros in the 2015 financial year – roughly 64 percent of it outside Germany.