At this year’s Dies academicus of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Sandra Jeleazcov and Prof. Dr. Benedikt Morschheuser were honored as FAU Innovators 2024 for their groundbreaking work in gamification and science communication. Both are dedicated to conveying scientific content in ways that foster greater understanding and public engagement through the creative use of game-based approaches.
An outstanding example of their joint, interdisciplinary work is the CARSLE VR app ‘Fighting Lupus’, a virtual reality application that educates patients about their autoimmune disease lupus. Patients put on VR goggles and meet with a member of the treating team in the third dimension. Together, they immerse themselves in the disease and experience what happens in their body during the disease and therapy and how the treatment proceeds. The CARSLE VR App – Fighting Lupus is an innovative form of communication that uses interactive and personalised elements to educate and actively involve patients.
The app has received several awards in 2024, including the BrandEx Award for the best digital event, the German Prize for Online Communication in the Health & Social Affairs category and the German Digital Award in the Digital Transformation, Product & Corporate Transformation category. These awards not only recognise the project, but also underline the potential of digital transformation in the field of science communication.
This form of co-working between physicians, scientists, business informatics experts and communicators is exemplary of FAU’s research-orientated and creative commitment and shows how modern technologies can be used to make complex topics understandable and motivating.