'EVE Online' crowdsourced science data will soon be publicly available

In March 2016, space MMO EVE Online added the Project Discovery minigame which let players classify proteins in their downtime to help researchers. After collecting data for over two years, the project's team recently uploaded it to the publicly-available Human Protein Atlas database for scientists to use all over the world. Players participating in Project Discovery matched images of proteins from a separate database of 13 million human cells. EVE Online studio CCP Games offered in-game rewards to incentivize gamers to take part. Players worked alongside an AI to identify images for a team of the KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Massive Multiplayer Online Science. Players took direction in-game from Emma Lundberg, a KTH researcher who leads the Cell Atlas group under the Human Protein Atlas; She made her way into EVE Online as the NPC, Professor Lundberg.