IMPACT OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS ON POPULATION HEALTH

Pokémon Go – Augmented reality games for Enhancing Public Health Interventions on Obesity-
related diseases and Pokémon Go – Healthy or Harmful are research-based articles done by the
Authors M.C. Wong et al. and Wagner-Greene et al. describing the cons and pros on the health
benefits by the use of Pokémon Go gaming application.
Analysis:
Pokémon Go – Get Up and Go is a modern Augmented reality game which is launched on the
grounds of the Pokémon show from Cartoon Network. Mode of game is used to play individually
or in group and collects the hatching eggs which further resembles the characters in the Pokémon
show and Socialization. It has never intended to be the betterment of the health in the population
neither attracted the all aging categories of People. It is all the research by the Authors has laid
the benefits of playing the Pokémon game and projecting the pros and cons on health of the
game users. It has been seen that this game is played by most of the teen and young age category
people and it doesn’t recommend for any Obesity-related population or any. It is just as a game
as-is (1,2).
New Intervention:
Nowadays Everyone loves to shop, watch interesting movies, web series if not frequently they do
so when it requires. So, Shopping and Fun has always been a part of the life of Humans and it
makes someone feel better while doing so. Thanks to the technology we have in this Century
where everything goes online, and usage of mobile phones and apps has been high like never
before. It is estimated that 2.05 Billion (26.28%) People out of 7.8 Billion People in the World
are shopping online with the rise of Ecommerce (3) and 83.8% of the total Population of United
States watches online through digital media (4).
I would strongly recommend that the Ecommerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba and Digital
media giants like Netflix should think broadly for the health and welfare of the Population and
design their mobile application with the Virtual reality or Augmented reality games by giving the
tasks and missions like walking, running and cycling and once the mission is achieved should be
rewarded with the gift cards or coupons which will make them to do the Shopping or unveil the
Movies or web series or extend the subscription. Health data (weight, height, Heart rate BPM)
should be measured tracked periodically and provide the extra rewards if one has shown drastic
improvement in the Cholesterol maintenance which is major factor for the Obesity. There are
chances that the measurement can be falsified so the app should be designed in a way that it
scans the fingerprints and records the Health data of an individual. It is a performance-based
rewarding system thereby improving the Health and luring the People with the Money in terms
of Coupons or gift cards or subscriptions.
Conclusion: Mobile applications or games with the Virtual or Augmented reality should be
designed in a practical way with the main purpose as a schema and should be useful and attract
for every age category of the People.
References
1. M.C. Wong, et al., (2017) Pokémon Go – Why Augmented reality games for

Enhancing Public Health Interventions on Obesity-related diseases. Context Sensitive

Health Informatics: Redesigning Healthcare Work.

2. Wagner-Greene et al., (2017) Pokémon Go – Healthy or Harmful? AJPH Perspectives

Vol 107, No.1.

3. Digital Buyers Worldwide (2014-2021) in Billions by Statista.com.

“https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/how-many-people-shop-online”.

4. Felix (2020) Online Video Consumption Statistics.

“https://millennialstudios.co.uk/blog/online-video-consumption-statistics/”.