Prism’s immersive algebra learning app breaks down the mathematics of a viral outbreak.
As vaccines continue to roll out across the United States as well as the rest of the globe, we’re beginning to see a slow return to normalcy after what feels like an eternity of government-mandated lockdowns and social distancing restrictions. Part of that recovery process will involve studying the rapid progression of this unprecedented global outbreak.
Available now in beta on Oculus Quest/Quest 2 headsets via the Oculus App Lab, Pandemic by Prisms is an engaging and thought-provoking educational game experience designed to illustrate the mathematics of a global viral outbreak. Powered via a combination of “multimodal sense-making tools,” Pandemic has you solving a variety of critical problems directly related to the 2020 pandemic using algebraic thinking.
“Fragile math understandings and lack of relevance have long been the root cause of high STEM attrition rates, and as a district math leader, I didn’t have the tools to close these gaps, at scale,” noted Anurupa Ganguly, Founder and CEO of Prisms.
“I founded Prisms of Reality to solve this problem by actualizing hands-on, and real-world, problem-solving for math that was impossible to realize until recent advances in technology. We built our beta algebra learning module, Pandemic, to develop student proficiency with exponential functions while empowering students to solve critical problems related to the global pandemic using math.”
A few key features and game mechanics as provided by Prisms of Reality:
- Join a task force.
- Explore virus containment strategies hands-on.
- Feel, touch, and move to develop mathematical intuition.
- Discover the underlying structure of exponential functions.
- Become fluent with graphing and equations.
- Determine when a virus overwhelms our city’s hospital capacity to save the city.
- Understand how mathematical modeling can inform public policies.
- Aligned to Common Core State Standards.
The beta currently features roughly 45-60 minutes of gameplay and is designed for users eight and up. According to developer Prisms of Reality, the full release will feature five multi-part modules exponentials, quadratics, linear functions, statistics, and systems of equations.
Pandemic by Prisms is available now for $8.99 via Oculus App Lab, SideQuest, and Steam.
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Feature Image Credit: Prisms of Reality Inc.