Tweets from the Games4Health webinar
Wii and Kinect have shown how gaming can help keep people active.
Then there are games like CryptoZoo that aim to get people moving by having them chase cryptids through their cities. The game was developed by game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal in collaboration with the American Heart Association and the Institute for the Future.
Two games discussed at the #games4health webinar on Tuesday don’t have much to do with losing weight, and a third uses avatars to simulate a group therapy session. The Department of Health and Human Services and the Institute for the Future organized the event.
Prevent substance abuse
Doctors often have no way of knowing whether a patient is abusing prescription medication. An interactive game developed at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine is designed to train doctors to spot clues that this is happening.
In the game, an actor simulates the behavior of patients who are addicted to prescription painkillers, such as shifting eyes, nervousness, tapping fingers and restlessness.
Make jumping on the swing more fun
Making sure that kids are active and playing outdoors is a constant concern for parents, especially when video games, iPad and TV abound.
The Son-X Octavia is an interactive sound device that can be attached to swings. It plays applause when the child reaches a new height on the swing, or after the child has spent a certain amount of time swinging.
Group therapy sessions using avatars
This is the brainchild of Microsoft’s chief strategy officer Craig Mundie. He imagines a world where patient avatars will meet doctor avatars for virtual group therapy sessions.
This world allows the comfort of anonymity as well as the much-needed social contact and the feeling of empathy integral to group therapy sessions.
By Arundhati Parmar
Arundhati Parmar is the Medical Devices Reporter at MedCity News. She has covered medical technology since 2008 and specialized in business journalism since 2001. Parmar has three degrees from three continents - a Bachelor of Arts in English from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India; a Masters in English Literature from the University of Sydney, Australia and a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. She has sworn never to enter a classroom again.More posts by Author
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