MeetDurian: A Gameful Mobile App to Prevent COVID-19 Infection

TL;DR

MeetDurian is a location-based mobile game designed to enhance public understanding of COVID-19 transmission and promote hygiene habits, aiming to reduce virus spread through engaging gameplay and user education.

Contribution

This paper introduces MeetDurian, a novel cross-platform gameful app that combines location-based gaming with health education to combat COVID-19 transmission.

Findings

High acceptability among users

Good usability demonstrated in experiments

Effective in promoting hygiene awareness

Abstract

The COVID-19 problem has not gone away with the passing of the seasons. Even though most countries have achieved remarkable results in fighting against epidemic diseases and preventing and controlling viruses, the general public is still far from understanding the new crown virus and lacks imagination on its transmission law. In this paper, we propose MeetDurian: a cross-platform mobile application that exploits a location-based game to improve users' hygiene habits and reduce virus dispersal. We present its main features, its architecture, and its core technologies. Finally, we report a set of experiments that prove the acceptability and usability of MeetDurian. An illustrative demo of the mobile app features is shown in the following video: https://youtu.be/Vqg7nFDQuOU.