That's extremely cool. My dad has studied and has his masters in Educational Technology. He's spent time building large-scale models in Second Life for a biotech company, making it easier for people to learn and get inside the machines. The company was located in many different spots worldwide so it was an extremely useful tool.
This also reminds me a bit of Ender's Game if anyone's read it.
Additionally the idea of learning being enjoyable is awesome to me. I've always believed learning should be fun and not a chore/job. People should be motivated to increase their knowledge. While the focus of the article is on research, here you have people treating it as a game. People are having fun and solving life's mysteries. It seems like a cool way to discover something.