Horror video game gets its creepiness from a quantum computer - New Scientist
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Quantum Backrooms lets you feel what it would be like to be stuck in a quantum computerMoth A quantum computer has been used to create a horror video game called Quantum Backrooms – and it’s available to play online. Peculiarities of quantum objects have long inspired philosophers and artists, and now game developers are getting the bug too. James Wootton at Moth Quantum developed Quantum Backrooms, a horror game with labyrinthian levels generated by a real quantum computer. The game draws inspiration from “the Backrooms,” a horror legend developed on internet forums that consists of moving through a series of endless rooms. In Wootton’s game, each room corresponds to the quantum state of a part of a quantum computer called a qubit, while connections between qubits correspond to possible paths between rooms. Wootton says that in this way, Quantum Backrooms conveys the feeling of being stuck in a quantum computer. The player can look in a fixed direction, but everything they are not looking at is constantly changing until they focus their gaze on it, conveying the idea that states of quantum objects change when observed, he says. Moth Players don’t need access to quantum computers, as they were only used during the game’s development. Wootton says that he hopes that Quantum Backrooms will reach horror fans who will enjoy the new flavour of creepiness generated by the qubits. “A player can be given this link and not have any idea that it was run on a quantum computer,” he says. It is available to play here. Subscriber-only newsletter Sign up to Lost in Space-Time Untangle mind-bending physics, maths and the weirdness of reality with our monthly, special-guest-written newsletter. Sign up to newsletter Laura Piispanen at Aalto University in Finland says that hundreds of quantum games exist already, ranging from those that involve content generated on quantum hardware like Quantum Backrooms to those that rely on simulating quantum states on conventional computers. Access to quantum hardware still isn’t widespread, but the interest in quantum games is growing nevertheless, she says. Quantum Backrooms may not be a quantum-computing breakthrough, but it might be the most polished and playable version of a quantum game yet, says Michael Cook at King’s College London. He says that game developers are often at the forefront of innovating with novel computing technologies, so it is interesting to give them access to quantum hardware that is still impractical for most people. “Often, their unusual demands or ideas for new technology drives real change in research,” says Cook.
The Moth Quantum team hope that Quantum Backrooms will be a step towards quantum technology becoming more integrated in everyday consumer products. “Just as AI went from being a research product to suddenly becoming something very relevant to consumers within the past few years, I think that we’re going to see the same thing for quantum computing,” he says. Topics:video games/quantum computing Advertisement Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers. Sign up More from New Scientist Explore the latest news, articles and features TechnologyQ-Day could destroy Bitcoin – and our retirement savingsCommentPhysicsThe 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be overFeaturesTechnologyQuantum computers simulated their biggest molecule yet – with helpNewsTechnologyWe might finally know how to use quantum computers to boost AINews 1 Mathematical AI helps researchers crack 50-year-old problem 2 Q-Day could destroy Bitcoin – and our retirement savings 3 Glaciers in the 'roof of the world' have suddenly started melting 4 Does gravity create reality? A shocking path to a theory of everything 5 Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients 6 The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away 7 Read an extract from The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins 8 How a radical new view of life could reveal its origin – and aliens 9 Start-ups are racing to revolutionise mathematics with AI 10 Earliest use of anaesthetics uncovered in Chinese doctor’s tomb Advertisement