What is the problem you’re trying to solve?
“In order to develop AI models for helping pathologists, we need about 100,000 cells on tissue sections to be identified – annotated. That would take pathologists an enormous amount of time. Together with ChangeGamers, we created the game Tilly, in which anyone can learn to recognize and annotate cells.”
What do players of the Tilly game add to your research?
“Data. Lots of it. At the festival alone, about 1000 people played the game, generating more than 75,000 annotated cells in tumor tissue. The lack of annotated data is one of the main bottlenecks for AI in pathology.”
Why take your science to a music festival?
“It offers something you cannot get in the lab: thousands of motivated people from all walks of life, in a short time, in a playful mood. Lowlands was the perfect place to test whether the public can actually do this and whether they enjoy it.”
What stood out to you about the way Lowlands visitors played the game?
“How competitive and precise they became. We heard accuracy up to 100 percent. People came back for another round, brought their friends, and asked genuinely sharp questions about immunotherapy and pathology. I expected curiosity, but the level of dedication surprised me.”
