The COVID-19 situation in the world is still far from being under control, and in many countries, the graph of active cases is still climbing. The situation is no different in India, and the daily cases are increasing every day. The main reason why people are coming under the clutches of the deadly virus is because of the lack of awareness.

While the Governments are trying their best to spread awareness and word of caution about the COVID-19 virus, Shreyansh Anchlia, who is a B.Tech Engineering student from BML Munjal University has designed a unique app called ‘Unlock Me’ for spreading the awareness about the virus among the users. People tend to understand something when told differently, and Shreyansh used this approach under the guidance of B.Tech Computer Science faculty members Dr Goldie Gabrani and Nishtha Phutela of BML Munjal University.

Shreyansh wasn’t alone in his crusade as Gurramkonda Vishal Bharadwaj, who is also a B.Tech Engineering student from the same university composed the background music for the app. Shreyansh expressed his gratitude towards all his college mates as he said that his app garnered massive support from students of all other courses like BBA course, BCom Hons., and others. As for the specifications of the app, it can be run on all Android devices of version 4.4 and above. The app doesn’t ask for any personal information of the user and is available for download from the Google Play Store.

About the App

The ‘Unlock Me’ game simulates real-life risks that are related to the COVID-19, and the users have to save themselves from getting infected by the virus to win the game. It creates hypothetical situations such as the user coming in the proximity of an infected person or going in a high-risk zone. As a player, the user needs to make the right choices as they move through the game, as any wrong decision will reduce their health in the game. There are other features too, such as the user can get powerups in the form of sanitizers. The main motive behind such a game is to educate the user about the current scenario. After the user has progressed enough in the game, they are presented with a series of questions that they need to answer. These questions are further solved in a different section of the game, where an analysis of the virus samples takes place. Shreyansh’s app is a result of the fact that the colleges are now focusing on application-based learning and app and game development is now an integral part of the BTech syllabus in many colleges.

Some B.Com programme students who played the game agreed that this is not just a fun-app but has a colossal awareness element attached to it. Another student enrolled in a BBA course expressed similar views about the game.

While progressing in the game, the player also comes across the announcements of the Health Ministry regarding the COVID situation, again for awareness purposes. After the users complete a specified number of levels in the game, they are finally able to unlock the cure for the virus! However, that doesn’t end the game, and they reach a new level in which they have to administer the cure to the other people. The B.Tech Computer Science student has designed the game in Unity 3D software in the top-arcade format. The game shifts to Arena mode after the user completes 100 levels in the Arcade mode. Though the app has been developed by a student enrolled in a technical degree course, it is garnering equal support from students from BBA Hons, BBA LLB, and B.Com programmes too.

Prof. Maneek Kumar, who is the Dean of School of Engineering and Technology at BML Munjal University appreciated the efforts of the students and expressed his willingness to train more students in app development as a part of their B.Tech syllabus.

Prof. Manoj Arora, who is the Vice-Chancellor of BMU, also congratulated his students for their efforts and talked about the importance of technology in spreading awareness against such deadly diseases. COVID-19 is a huge challenge for the whole world, but dedicated minds like Shreyansh have made sure to find the silver lining in the cloud!