COVID-Hero: Machine Learning Based COVID-19 Awareness Enhancement Mobile Game for Children

Satu, M. S.; Mizan, K. S. E.; Jerin, S. A.; Whaiduzzaman, M.; Barros, A.; Ahmed, K.; Moni, M. A.

In this pandemic, children are affected heavily by lockdown and quarantine worldwide. Hence, children’s awareness of COVID-19 and passing a joyful time at home are necessary for their mental health. In this work, we developed a mobile gaming app named COVID-Hero, which intends to learn and create awareness among children about COVID-19. Using this app, they obtain scores/points by grabbing the right objects from their superhero-shaped player, which are fun, attractive, and psychologically helpful during this pandemic. However, we designed a questionnaire and conducted a user survey of different aged people who gave their opinions about this game. Finally, numerous significant features were extracted and prioritized using machine learning regression models that enhance children’s COVID-19 awareness and tolerable behavior in this pandemic. © 2021, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.