uMed

A thought-provoking experiment for morality, set in a hospital.

uMed is a survey game for students and employees working in the medical sector. The game’s purpose is to collect data on the behaviour of students. The game is part of an ongoing study about the choices of medical students/employees in daily moral decision-making.

This serious game is developed in close cooperation with the Institute of Biomedical Ethics and History of Medicine and the UZH Digital Society Initiative Zürich at the University of Zurich. uMed is a new iteration of uFin: The Challenge, where we also worked with the University of Zürich to collect behavioral data for their research. uMed and uFin have both evolved from surveys, and provide a more immersive experience as well as more reliable data.
The core purpose of the game is to learn how people recognize and process moral dilemmas. In this medical environment, the focus is on how people decide, more than just to see if morality is even recognized as an issue.

uMed is a 2D point and click adventure game. The player assumes the role of a young doctor interning at the local hospital. Over the course if this internship, the young doctor has to navigate difficult patients, their relatives, as well as coworkers, and has to make decisions, which heavily impact the wellbeing of their patients and may even include questions of life and death.

Publications

  1. Eichinger, T., Katsarov, J. Spielend Medizinethik trainieren: „uMed: Your Choice“. Ethik Med (2022)

  2. Katsarov, J., Biller-Adorno, N., Eichinger, T., Schmocker, D., Christen, M. uMed: Your Choice — Conception of a Digital Game to Enhance Medical Ethics Training. DKK,volume 7, 2020