Quantum computing is still an unknown term for most people, let alone how it works.
Google which is among the tech pioneers working in the field. And this time, in an attempt to make it simpler for it to be understood, among the ways, it's introducing what it calls the 'The Qubit Game,' which allows people to run quantum computers in their browsers.
Google introduced it on April 14, in celebration of World Quantum Day.
Through the simulator-based game it developed with Doublespeak Games, the game is deceptively simple at first.
It tasks players with using their cursor to keep heat, represented as jagged red balls, from hitting the qubits that are trying to cohere. With enough time, the qubits can retain information for later retrieval.
But as players progress, things get complicated pretty quickly.
The game centers around quantum bits, also called qubits, which are a quantum computer’s version of the more traditional binary system.
What makes qubits superior to binary is their ability to experience something called “superposition,” which is why a quantum computer can process complicated data at an unprecedented rate.
A few minutes into the game, players can build their first analogue signal upgrade, which allows them to interact with every qubit at once by calibrating their machine to a specific waveform.
Later, they can create a digital computer, and then quantum algorithms.
To help players progress, players can make the qubits entangle, create more qubits, increase qubit storage, increase information capacity, and speed up qubit information generation.
Things won't be easy, because the heat rays can be devastating at times.
When the heat touch the qubits, they can ruin entanglements, eliminate whatever information qubits have stored, forcing the qubits to redo their work from the beginning.
Then, there are cosmic rays, which are represented by many barging balls of heat that come from many directions.
Eventually, where there are too many qubits too handle and too many entanglements happening at the same time, if not quickly measured, all those efforts can be devastated by even a single heat.
As players progress, they should be able to unlock upgrades to further optimize their quantum computer and better defend against heat.
And later on the game, they should be able to automate much of the process and even answer interdepartmental email.
The game's mechanics here illustrate how companies like Google are working to build quantum computers.
It clearly show how the technology need to protect itself from technology's universal enemy, heat, while overseeing information collection and storage.
While it's indeed a stark difference between deflecting balls of heat with a mouse cursor and creating legitimate cooling systems, but this hands-on experience is still edifying.
With this game, that Google described in a blog post as a "playful journey" that tasks players with building a quantum computer, one qubit at a time, Google is hoping that it can help increase people's interest in the field of quantum computing.
"We need more students pursuing careers building or using quantum computers, and understanding what it would be like to be a quantum scientist or engineer," wrote Abe Asfaw, Head of Education, Google Quantum AI. "For me, that’s what World Quantum Day is all about: showing everyone what quantum computing really is and how they can get involved."
