Mini-hackaton 

[µz]game 

On 17 June 2021, we brought together gamers, game designers, students, apprentices, designers, inventors, health professionals, musicians, etc. for a mini-hackathon in Lausanne, Switzerland.

For several years now, our inter-professional team has been installing music listening devices in the intensive care rooms of psychiatric hospitals. The experience gained has allowed us to acquire expertise at the crossroads of psychological suffering, solitude and care-giving, and to demonstrate how music spaces offer new perspectives in accompanying people in distress. In turn, this has led us to extend our work into applied research. Following exploratory work with the target audience, we were able to identify a series elements that we want to bring together. Specifically, we hope to develop a serious game that stimulates an optimal confluence of the distress of people with poor mental health, their solitude and a music universe they can create and share. Our aim is therefore to produce an interface enabling anyone, in complete safety, to become aware of their emotional state and to mobilise their creative forces.

The goal set for those taking part in the mini-hackathon was to imagine a healthcare game aimed at teenagers and young adults who know what it means to be lonely (to be confronted with the feeling of solitude). The game had to allow them to connect with others through music and to create a safe environment over which they had control.

A set of specifications was distributed to each team.

Three healthcare game ideas were presented.