Digital diabetes program takes Europe by storm
Media release by Brisbane Marketing
Brisbane-based start-up Magikcraft’s new program MCT1 has caught the eye of Europe. The team will be heading to Ireland in June for Dublin’s CoderDojo Coolest Projects Awards. They’re also booked to share their ideas in Denmark and Norway.
Spearheaded by software engineer Josh Wulf, they will be presenting Magikcraft and MCT1 – the Minecraft mod built on top of Magikcraft that simulates Type 1 diabetes for newly diagnosed children.
Mr Wulf said the program aimed to educate children and their support teams about Type 1 diabetes and how to manage it, while creating an online network for them.
“Type 1 diabetes is still so widely misunderstood, and you’re constantly educating the people about it. In a fun way, MCT1 teaches users about blood glucose levels, insulin, eating and exercise which are all part of the daily equation for people with diabetes. It also puts young children in touch with other kids who are going through the same thing,” Mr Wulf said.
The program is so revolutionary that it’s already been picked up by a Danish pharmaceutical company manufacturing insulin.
"We're working with their scientists to model the metabolism in the game, and we're booked in for more talks when we visit them in Denmark later this year," Mr Wulf said.
QUT Associate Professor Michael Dezuanni hopes to trial the program and is currently seeking funding and a hospital to partner with.
“This program has so much potential because it’s fun and engaging, and will allow kids to work through the challenge of managing diabetes at a young age,” he said.
Mr Wulf credits Brisbane Marketing’s Digital team for launching the path to creating the program. Keen for his teenage son to learn to code, he started volunteering with Brisbane Marketing’s free program, CoderDojo, run in council libraries every weekend.
“MCT1 came about directly as a consequence of the Brisbane CoderDojo program. From my first mentors’ networking meeting, where Brisbane’s Chief Digital Officer Cat Matson said to us come with whatever you are passionate about and the kids will catch your enthusiasm,” he said.
“I discovered Minecraft and kids’ love of Minecraft there, and made Magikcraft. And then went on to make MCT1.”.
Magikcraft teaches children how to code in JavaScript by casting spells in Minecraft. They create worlds and make spells using JavaScript. The program now has about 120 students participating and 20 people assisting with building and delivering the program.
Mr Wulf will also be speaking at the Norwegian Developers’ Conference in Oslo, Norway from June 12-16, highlighting their artificial intelligence-driven platform in a talk entitled: “Who better to teach your kid to code than a robot?”
#invisibleimpact #rippleeffect #magikcraft
For extra information
• Magikcraft 2nd - Flight Centre 2017 Data Hackathon
• Magikcraft World Record for number of zombies killed on mindcraft https://bit.ly/2nmZJen
• MCT1 www.mct1.io
• Magikcraft on 612ABC https://bit.ly/2fawdDK
For further information: Meryn Cooper, Brisbane Marketing M: 0404 860 185 E: mcooper@brisbanemarketing.com.au