World Quantum Day was apparently yesterday, and Google took the opportunity to release The Qubit, as noted by 9to5Google. Created in collaboration with Doublespeak games, it is “a fun journey to building a quantum computer, one qubit at a time,” said Google. He also hopes that the game and World Quantum Day will help spark interest in the field.
The game is played around qubits, the fundamental building block of a quantum computer. It’s quite simple (you don’t need to study any math or quantum entanglement physics) to increase the number of qubits while keeping them cool. The more qubits you have, the harder it gets. Eventually, “you will discover new improvements, complete major research projects and hopefully become a little more curious about how we build quantum computers,” wrote Google Quantum’s head of education, Abe Asfaw.
The goal is to pay attention to quantum computing as there seems to be a shortage of people working in the field. To that end, Google is taking the game into classrooms hoping to encourage teachers to talk about it and broaden access to research in quantum computing.
“We need more students who want to work in building or using quantum computers and understand what it is like to be a quantum scientist or engineer,” wrote Asfaw. “For me, that’s what World Quantum Day is all about: showing everyone what quantum computing really is and how they can get involved.”
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