The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics
The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics
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DOI：
10.1016/s1473-3099(07)70212-8
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发表时间：
2007-09-01
影响因子：
56.3
通讯作者：
Fefferman, Nina H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lofgren, Eric T.;Fefferman, Nina H.
模拟模型在应用流行病学领域中变得越来越重要。然而，我们几乎无法验证这些模型或调整其用途以纳入重要的人类行为。在最近在线游戏虚拟世界中发生的一起事件中，意外包含类似疾病的现象提供了一个很好的例子，说明此类系统具有减轻这些建模约束的潜力。我们讨论了这一事件，以及这些游戏系统的适当利用如何能够极大地提高传染病研究中应用模拟建模的能力。
Simulation models are of increasing importance within the field of applied epidemiology. However, very little can be done to validate such models or to tailor their use to incorporate important human behaviours. In a recent incident in the virtual world of online gaming, the accidental inclusion of a disease-like phenomenon provided an excellent example of the potential of such systems to alleviate these modelling constraints. We discuss this incident and how appropriate exploitation of these gaming systems could greatly advance the capabilities of applied simulation modelling in infectious disease research.