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Pokémon-Go: Why Augmented Reality Games offer insights for enhancing public health Interventions on obesity-related diseases

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 10:26 authored by Ming WongMing Wong, Paul TurnerPaul Turner, Pamela MacintyrePamela Macintyre, Kwang YeeKwang Yee
Stimulating widespread interests of the population to participate in behavioural changes through information and technology has been an aim of much health informatics research. The recent widespread participation of the augmented reality game Pokémon Go which encourages exercises, provides significant insights into the potential of information technology to improve healthcare intervention on obesity-related disease. Does Pokémon Go point to another way of achieving health benefits using mobile devices? This paper analyses the features of Pokémon Go in relation to potential health benefits. This paper suggests from the perspective of a user on changes to the game that potentially could help with obesity, mental health cardiovascular health and vitamin D deficiencies. While the impact of augmented reality games on improving exercises might be substantial, the question of sustainability and likely long-term health outcomes remain debatable. The rapid uptake of Pokémon Go by the population around the world, however, should serve as a useful lesson for information and technological design to improve outcomes obesity-related diseases in the future.

History

Publication title

Studies in Health Technology and Informatics

Volume

241

Pagination

128-133

ISSN

0926-9630

Department/School

School of Health Sciences

Publisher

IOS Press

Place of publication

Netherlands

Rights statement

© 2017 The authors and IOS Press. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Evaluation of health outcomes

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