Commissioned by The Champalimaud Foundation and created by Belgium-based, technology company de pinxi, the 1m euro (£861,000, US$1.4m) Future of Medicine simulator aims to explain the future challenge of medicine to children in an inspiring way, so they will consider science as a career.
Touring the Iberian peninsula since April 2008, the 3D interactive attraction makes cutting edge science digestible for nine- to 14-year-olds. The central character of the film is Champi, an animated child, who takes them on a tour of the human body, witnessing many contemporary medical science issues, such as stem cell research, nanotechnology, DNA and gene therapy.
De pinxi's co-founder Philippe Chiwy says the main challenges were coming up with characters and a storyline which the children would respond to, and balancing the entertainment and emotion with the educational message. To this end, there were a lot of test sessions with schools and children, and the experts of the Foundation reviewed the script and the production at various stages, from both a scientific and an educational point of view.
The show's completely interactive - the children have to act together to move the story on. "This creates stronger emotion and memories," said Chiwy. "The kids shout the name of Champi together to avoid obstacles. They'll remember this a lot more than a linear, passive movie."
The attraction has been constantly touring schools and science museums in Portugal and Spain since April 2008 and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. "I don't say that very often, but the reaction here was huge!" said Chiwy. "There's specific local press coverage for nearly every destination and as soon as it reaches a town, the locals are queuing up to experience the show."
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