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A new Android smartphone app announced today by the Vodafone Foundation and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research draws on the processing power of smartphones to aid in cancer research.The DreamLab app automatically downloads and solves a small cancer research problem while a smartphone is plugged in and fully charged, sending the result back to Garvan researchers via the Amazon cloud.
The Garvan Institute states that for researchers DreamLab “not only provides free access to a crucial computing resource, it also has the potential to greatly speed up cancer research by the institute”.
“With 100,000 users, researchers will be able to crunch data approximately 3,000 times faster than the current rate,” the Garvan Institute stated. “With five million users, that increases to 150 thousand times faster than the current rate.”
Vodafone will offer its 5 million prepaid and postpaid customers free data usage when using DreamLab on the Vodafone network in Australia (customers will use their data for the initial download of the app, and a small amount for its other functions).
“As a nation who loves their smartphones, we now have a tremendous opportunity to put them to good use and help find a cure for cancer,” Dr Samantha Oakes, leader of the breast cancer unit at the Garvan Institute, commented. “Together, we can come to a greater understanding of how to treat it more swiftly.”
Alyssa Jones, head of the Vodafone Foundation Australia, stated that “with more smartphones than people, we have an opportunity to make a tangible difference”.
“DreamLab is free to purchase and incredibly easy to use,” Jones commented. “Download the app and charge your phone at night. It’s really that simple.”
Further information can be found here.
