On June 1, BALANCED had the opportunity to travel to the North Texas headquarters of Make-A-Wish to share our story with a roomful of guests including Make-A-Wish staff and representatives from the American Cancer Society. We wanted to follow-up a event we participated in to share the impact that our game, The 8 CELL, had on the wish recipient, a child with Medullary Blastoma and, in turn, how that has confirmed the power of BALANCED’s mission to make positive change through technology and gaming.
We began the morning by explaining the concept behind The 8 CELL, which is to educate and inspire healthy change for those playing it, as well as BALANCED’s other health-related projects, like Wiley Wizard and Eye in the Sky: Defender and our Minecraft mod contributing to a multi-drug resistant chemotherapy research. Dr. John Wise, PhD from SMU’s Center for Drug Discovery shared how BALANCED’s human-assisted AI technology is helping his group to get to discovery faster and more effectively.
We then were treated to a live chat with Jimmy, the boy who’s wish experience was the centerpiece of the day. Jimmy shared how playing The 8 CELL had allowed him to visualize the fight against cancer in a way that was more real and impactful to him. He related how being able to take the fight directly to cancer gave Jimmy feelings of hope and empowerment.
Members of Make-A-Wish and the other guests then had an opportunity to experience playing The 8 CELL for themselves and speak with the BALANCED team about how The 8 CELL could make impacts for other individuals. It was a great morning and we are appreciative to Make-A-Wish and the other organizations represented for the opportunity to evangelize what we think can be a game-changer in the fight for a healthier future.
