Astellas tests gamification ideas with Japanese universities

Astellas has teamed up with Tokyo University of the Arts and Yokohama City University to create and commercialise new digital healthcare solutions using gamification.

Ideas will be tested at the new Health Mock Lab, described as ‘a virtual framework for industry-academia collaboration’.

Gamification is a method of applying game elements to services and systems to enhance user’s motivation and satisfaction.

In the healthcare field, services that address social issues by incorporating game elements have attracted attention in recent years, with some seeing gamification as a way to tackle healthcare challenges like drug adherence or patient satisfaction in the NHS.

At the Health Mock Lab, YCU, TUA and Astellas will jointly screen and refine ideas proposed by each party from medical, gamification and business perspectives respectively to select ideas for practical application.

YCU, TUA and Astellas are planning to then push ahead with initiatives toward the practical application of ideas selected through this process, including research and development, the production of prototypes and demonstration tests.

Astellas said that the lab is part of its efforts, under its Corporate Strategic Plan 2018, to develop ‘Rx+TM(1)’ programmes, which aim to combine experience from its prescription drug business with technology and knowledge from different fields.

In 2018, YCU established the Communication Design Center at YCU Advanced Medical Research Center, which is the first creative laboratory among medical research institutions in the world. The Center studies a creative solution using design, art, and others in addition to conventional medical means to realise medicines that do not only prevent, diagnose and treat disease, but also support people to live a full life.

Meanwhile, TUA created the Game Course within the School of Film and New Media in 2019. Based on the foundation of animation and interactive media, the course will foster research in games under active collaboration with industries.