Fighting HIV/AIDS with mobile gaming

Newly launched games on mobiles in India aim to spread awareness
about the deadly virus. BANIKINKAR PATTANAYAK

Posted online: Sunday, January 22, 2006 at 0149 hours IST

Driving Aids into history may well have its course in the future,
but taking initiatives can never be a thing of the past. In an age
that overtly prides in being a slave to techno-mania, tackling AIDS
with new devices of technology may seem a trifle, but adding new
applications to existing instruments that even children will feel
comfortable with for spreading awareness about the deadly disease
comes as a pleasant surprise.

With a sizeable population using cell phones and the 3G (third
generation) mobile phones with new-age applications yet to make a
debut in the country, what could be more effective than the use of
mobile phones as a lethal weapon against AIDS?

If prevention is better than cure, and considering that there is
hardly any way to recover after getting infected with HIV, the
mobile gaming certainly makes a compelling case for its experiment,
even if it is too early to form an opinion about its effectiveness.
However, ZMQ, a Delhi-based gaming and e-learning software company,
has recently launched four mobile games with the name, Freedom
HIV/AIDS, on nine million devices of Reliance Infocomm with the
support of the Delhi State AIDS Control Society. The games made a
beginning on Reliance Infocomm's R-World recently, and the company
is optimistic about its acceptance by other operators in the near
future. The company has its plan to release the game for global use
on the International Labour Day (May 1).

Freedom HIV/AIDS comprises four games that target psyche of
different users. They are deployed on both black and white and high-
end coloured devices.

The first one shows a cricket match between two teams representing
both the good and the evil, with the cricket ball appearing in forms
of faithful partner, AIDS red ribbon and other HIV information. At
the same time, the safety team will face googly or doosra deliveries
like unsafe sex, infected blood transfusion, infected syringe and
the company of bad friends.

The second one projects an arcade game where the player is the red
ribbon with the task of delivering message to the world while HIV is
chasing him.

The third game pictures doves that fly from village to village
spreading the message of HIV awareness. And the last one introduces
a character, who invites questions from the user and provides
detailed information about different aspects of the deadly disease.

But now the big question remains. How effective can these games
be? "Mobile phones are a wonderful tool for communication and
entertainment," says Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for
Information Society and Media, "3G mobiles will add new
applications, including education. Using mobile devices to raise
awareness on HIV/AIDS is a very good example of intelligent use of
mobile telephony. "

Same voice is echoed by E Mohammad Rafique, resource person and
moderator, AIDS community, UNAIDS (India). "Reaching out to millions
through mobile phone games is an excellent approach to spread
awareness about HIV/AIDS," he says. However, as it happens with most
devices, they don't survive the hype, but when they do, they change
the course of public perception. But will mobile gaming bring out a
revolution in the way awareness about AIDS is being spread? Well,
hope springs eternal.

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