Speculative Design
AMR Awareness
Medium ····················· Digital
Duration ···················· Nov 2022 (3 weeks)
Tool ··························· Illustrator, After Effect
Project Summary
Robbie’s Adventure is a game designed to raise the public’s awareness about the issue of antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria can develop defense mechanisms against antibiotics which caused by overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics. This project aims to help the public use antibiotics more wisely through a more engaging media.
The Problem
Many Canadian families are misusing antibiotics. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics are key factors leading to antibiotic resistance.
When bacteria are exposed to antibiotics, some bacteria with the ability to resist antibiotics survive. Leading causes of increased antibiotic resistance are the overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics in preventing or treating infections in people. According to the National Institutes of Health, 48% of parents save leftover antibiotics for future use, and 45% of adults say they haven’t taken antibiotics as presribed.A design challenge emerged...
How can I design a product that help decreasing unnecessary antibiotic consumption?
The Research Report
The Solution
A video game that allow players to reflect upon the complex challenges of AMR through multiple scenarios, such as consuming leftover medications, and not finishing the full course of antibiotics.
The aim of this project is to generate discussion and inquiry around the topic of appropriate use of antibiotics in family household. This project explore games as a medium for speculative design through which players can explore scenarios that represent plausible alternative presents and speculative futures.
Robbie’s Adventure encourages reflection by enabling players to make choices throughout the game, different choices will result in different endings. By using empathic functionality, players step in the role of doctors and choose the antibiotics that suit them. This allows players to understand what leads to AMR and the risk of inappropriate use of antibiotics.