When thinking about how to propel the field of quantum computing into the future, animated cupcakes might not be the first thing that comes to mind. However, a group of researchers at the University of Chicago might ask you to think again.
Quantum computing is considered a rapidly-growing field throughout the world that intersects computer science, physics, and math to solve a number of problems that classical computers cannot. The concepts grounding how it works are often abstract and may seem not only counterintuitive to someone without an advanced degree, but also intimidating to try and learn. Unfortunately this has the potential to limit the future workforce in quantum computing if it doesn’t become more accessible.
For researchers Tianle Liu, David Gonzalez-Maldonado, Danielle Harlow (Professor, UC Santa Barbara), Emily Edwards (Director of IQUIST, UIUC), and University of Chicago Associate Professor Diana Franklin, targeting students early before they lose confidence in the ability to understand quantum seems necessary to ensure we can continue growing the field. Naturally, one of the biggest challenges in doing so is finding a way to make quantum engaging to this demographic.
In research funded by the National Science Foundation, the team detailed Qupcakery; a unique food-style video game they created that introduces quantum gates to young learners through bakery roleplay. Qupcakery is part of Quander, a suite of games inspired by quantum concepts. The research was presented at Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education hosted by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE).
“Our game touches upon many quantum concepts – superposition, measurement, quantum gates, and even entanglement,” said UChicago graduate, Tianle Liu. “This is very uncommon to see within the same game context – because it is very hard to capture them all.”
Click here to read the full story.
This story was first published by the UChicago Department of Computer Science.
