James Watt, PhD is a serious games researcher at the University of Connecticut. He explains that social interaction is relative to masked identity. Group communication is best when there is also social interaction. So how about creating an avatar-likeness with body movements that still provides anonymity? Microsoft Xbox recently released Avatar Kinect that scans participants and then creates a general look-alike avatar of themselves – including body movements.

Players might not mind sharing personal attributes with friends, but would players feel comfortable revealing their size, hair color, and mannerisms to strangers, too? This remains to be seen, as medical professionals brainstorm about health applications. Consider in-home avatar group therapy sessions, patient education classes, addiction support groups, or parent clubs. Now layer on a health gaming twist. How about a virtually engaging game of Nutrition Jeopardy? The possibilities are tremendous! What kind of avatar health games do you envision? This field is wide-open for development. Game on!

One of the health game products I’ve been watching very closely is Zamzee. Not a whole lot has been written about this innovative new company yet, especially when one compares it to previous HopeLab products like Re-Mission. However, they have really geared up for an impressive product, and it will be very interesting to see how well it does in clinical testing and in the market.

What is Zamzee.

Zamzee is an online rewards program for teens based on their recorded physical activity. Users wear a three-axis accelerometer specially calibrated to record short bursts of movement and vigorous activity. Increased movement increases website status which can then be converted into spendable Zamz, a virtual currency used to purchase virtual and tangible rewards.

Zamzee was established in 2010 with an initial investment of $1M from the HopeLab Foundation. The creators of Zamzee hope to make it into a profitable business with the added benefit of getting teens more physically active.

Market potential.

Although Zamzee has some characteristics that make it completely unique, some of its features do remind me of other products, many of which haven’t done so well in the market.

• ME2 Universe – online 3D virtual world which is unlocked by physical activity recorded through a handheld – no longer available
• Zyked – a mobile app which aims to make sports and exercising more fun through gameplay and community features – never made it out of alpha testing
• Pokewalker – pedometer that records steps which are converted to currency for Pokemon Nintendo DS titles – resulted in gamer articles about how to cheat the system to get free currency
• Samurai Pedometer – pedometer and calorie counter in which the more you walk, the further your virtual samurai gets to conquering Japan – popular with adults not children
• Glucoboy – unlock virtual rewards for blood glucose monitoring – picked up by Bayer and marketed as Didget
• GeoPalz – a pedometer for the wrist or shoelace that rewards kids with real and virtual prizes for steps walked – new version launched this year
• WeMuv – a pedometer that rewards physical activity steps with website access and school fundraising opportunities – successful in Canada
• Horsepower Challenge – Humana’s online game that links kid’s real-world activity with a virtual race around the planet – successful in schools

Positions still available.

I have to say that one benefit Zamzee has over probably many of these others is the strong team they’re building. Back in February, Zamzee announced that they finally established a solid executive team including Jonathan Attwood as CEO and Lance Henderson as COO.

However, not all of the available positions have been filled. This is excellent news for all of you job hunters out there as it is very rare for health game positions to be available. Take a look at their careers page to see if you might be a good fit for one of these openings. Good luck out there!

Exergaming

There have been several product launches of exergames, mainly sports games, combining real exercise and a display screen. Melanie Lazarus has recently posted on healthGAMERS an exhaustive chronology of exergames.  Even though some of these games could be categorized as memorable flops to be taught in MBA marketing courses, all have two elements in common:

1. Putting the player “in the game” and
2. Taking a typical outdoor activity and bringing it indoors by requiring the player to connect with technology.

A scientific article published almost three years ago in the British Medical Journal pointed out that the energy used when playing active Wii Sports games is not of high enough intensity to contribute towards the recommended daily amount of exercise in children. It is therefore interesting to solve this equation of videogaming and exercise and to figure out how kids can burn calories without playing only exergames.

Physical Activity Monitoring

It is possible to imagine that a player or his parents could report on the computer real exercise performed in real life. Such monitoring can then be coupled to a lock/unlock game function which takes into account the amount of calories spent. You can then convert these spent calories in game time, next level access, bonuses and extra points.  In fact, this already exists.  For example, HopeLab has created Zamzee that should be available in 2011,  an online rewards system powered by physical activity recorded through an activity meter.

It is also possible to imagine that games could be used as a reward for physical activity in the real world. Imagine a fat Mario with limited power which can be improved by the amount of burnt calories of the player. The access and the use of video games is therefore controlled by the level of recorded physical activity. Again, as for example, iToys, a major Canadian toy industry actor, has created Me2, a hand-held activity meter device which is already sold on Amazon. When plugged into a computer, the device transfers the activity recorded into a 3D game that powers the gamer’s avatar.

Human-Generated Energy

In order to include players who never play sports games, some ingenuous systems have been conceived including the pedal-powered laptop developed by the MIT students. The player has to generate sufficient energy to charge the computer or to keep it turned on.

Indeed, Motion Fitness, an Illinois based company, already sells a similar system, “Brain Bike,” which was developed by a team of neuropsychologists and medical specialists. It relies on the Neuroactive® brain-fitness program that improves cognition while pedaling. The computer is connected to a module called Gamercize which interacts with the BrainBike by activating the mouse when pedaling then stopping the mouse when pedaling stops.

Furthermore, Humana Games, a subsidiary of HMO company Humana, has created the “Horsepower Challenge,” an online game that motivates physical activity in school-aged children. Each student wears a pedometer on his or her shoe which stores data and wirelessly uploads it to a website. When an individual accesses the site, the player is represented by a horse avatar. Steps can then be collected for an entire school. The students’ steps power a virtual school bus on a race around the world, which pauses for brief history lessons on historic landmarks along the way.

Alternate Reality Gaming

Augmented reality technologies bring a whole new way of gaming. It offers the possibility to play and interact with the outdoor environment in real-time.  For example, Hidden Park, available on the App Store, is a GPS adventure game for the iPhone. The game is played while visiting parks all around the world and uses alternate reality and geo-caching to create a fantasy world with digital photographs taken by the player. By the end of the day, the player has an album of their adventures, and they can compete or share their experience with others in the gaming community.

As a projection in the very near future, HP has created “Roku’s Reward” a demo game for their Tablet PC. HP says that they are not currently developing the game, however, the technology seems to be mature enough to consider the development of such a game in the near future.

Conclusions

I believe we are at the very beginning of understanding how these new technologies could be used in the most efficient way to help kids spend their extra calories because trying to prevent them of playing video games is already a lost battle. With the development of Human Generated Power and augmented reality technologies, there will be a huge body of possibilities to create new and highly interactive videogames that might help reduce obesity in children and increase physical activity.

HealthGAMERS is pleased to introduce you to Greg Kendall, President and CEO of Kendall & Son Solutions LLC. Greg has begun a family game development business which has plunged straight into mobile gaming for health. His company’s first game is called Allergies Attack and it gives players a chance to get back at all of those allergies for just $0.99, available now in the iPhone Apps Store.

The interview.

HG: Describe the general gameplay of Allergies Attack. What is the win/lose proposition?

GK: Allergies Attack follows a little boy named Richard through his dream of getting back at his allergies.  The opening story shows Richard’s mother trying to explain why he can’t go on a field trip, and as Richard begins to fall asleep, he starts imagining what he might be missing.  The game play is arcade-like with Richard in an anti-histamine pill-shaped jet, shooting his allergies as they appear on the various scenes.  Eliminate the remaining enemies, and you move on to the next of six levels of play where your allergens can be fish, dairy, gluten or peanuts.

HG: I understand that your sister inspired the creation of this game. How was development guided by her personal health experiences?

GK: Both my father and I, as well as my other older sister Erica, are asthmatics.  It was ironic that as a small child, Jessica showed no signs of asthma or any other allergies.  However, in college, we watched my sister develop severe adult-onset food allergies, most notably an allergy to soy.  We quickly learned that soy is virtually in every type of prepared food product on the grocery shelf.  We watched her frustrations grow, as we all discovered just how widespread the use of soy is in the foods we eat everyday.  When we began planning our company and creating our mission statement, we quickly decided to begin by developing a fun and entertaining game for the tens of millions of people around the world to attack back at their allergies.

HG: Where can our readers obtain the app and how much does it cost?

GK: Allergies Attack is available on Apple’s App Store, and additional information on the game can be found on our website.

On his health game mission.

HG: We have seen the concept of “fighting back” in other popular health games like HopeLab’s Re-Mission for young cancer patients undergoing treatment.  Do you feel you’re taking a similar approach–empowering the player?

GK: I would say that we are taking a similar approach as Re-mission by empowering the player to attack back.  Often the afflicted feel hopeless and not in control, but with these games they are given a fun way to deal with their issue even if just for a short time.

HG: What do you hope to accomplish by releasing the game to the public?

GK: We hope that Allergies Attack will increase awareness of food allergies, that it is a serious issue that millions of people have to be conscience of everyday.  Without generating downloads the game will not promote awareness, so they are dependent on each other; synergy. Additionally, promoting awareness creates a drive for research to ultimately find a cure.  We therefore will be making a donation towards allergy research, education, and advocacy.

HG: You said that you specifically hope your game will increase awareness about food allergies, yet the character Richard is combatting his peanut allergies by shooting antihistamines.  Most know that avoiding peanut consumption is the safest way to avoid horrible food allergy reactions like anaphylaxis. Does this mean your health game is purely for fun and not about sending specific allergy-related messaging or pharma-focused messaging?

GK: If a person has severe allergies, anaphylaxis can be induced by any of the foods depicted in Allergies Attack.  We are not trying to convey a pharma-focused or accurate treatment plan through our game play.  If we can provide a fun outlet for allergy sufferers and get one person who is not afflicted by allergies to Google “how many people suffer from food allergies” then we are successful.

On business and development.

HG: Who did the programming and design of Allergies Attack?

GK: Allergies Attack was designed and produced by Kendall & Son Solutions LLC.

HG: Is this Kendall & Son Solutions’ first game? How did you get into this business?

GK: This is Kendall & Son Solutions’ first game.  It all started with a discussion we had during Thanksgiving about allergies and technology. It all did not come to fruition until a couple of months later when my sister with food allergies became pregnant.  During her last trimester, she was put on bed rest and needed assistance getting groceries, cooking etc. Being allergic to many foods, we needed to be careful of what we bought and cooked for her.  My father and I then developed our first basic application Am I Allergic, which is an allergen thesaurus.   For example, if a person is allergic to egg they most likely would be allergic to livetin, an egg protein.  Am I Allergic was originally intended for our family’s personal use, but then we decided that we wanted to publish it in the App Store in the hope that it could be helpful as it was to us.  After that, Kendall & Son Solutions was born.

HG: How long did it take to develop Allergies Attack?

GK: My father and I spent four months of nights and weekends designing and developing the game.

HG: Why did you choose the iPhone platform?  Were there any challenges associated with using the iPhone?

GK: We felt the iPhone platform had the most mature development environment as well as a very sizable market for distribution of our games and applications.

HG: How long has the game been live?  Has it been doing well in the App Store?

GK: The game has only been live in the App Store for a couple days and we will still be working hard to promote the game and having the rest of the world. Join us in attacking back!

HG: What can we expect from Kendall & Son Solutions down the road?

GK: The future looks bright for Kendall & Son Solutions.  We currently are in development and pre-development of a number of games that above all are fun and exciting to play but also champion an issue.  These issues will include health, social and environmental issues that the world is facing today.

Other allergy and flu health games on healthGAMERS.

• Interview: Nasonex’s “Don’t Blow It” Allergy Game
• The Great Flu: Global Pandemic
• Gaming the Flu: Having fun with H1N1

Top Doc combines high-quality medical images of conditions and abnormalities affecting various parts of the body with challenging real-life questions that help medical students, residents and junior faculty improve their visual diagnostic skills. For an online demo, visit topdocgame.com.

“We want users to feel as though they are facing and dealing with relevant scenarios within a virtual medical clinic,” said James Studdiford, MD, FACP, the product’s lead author and Associate Professor at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia.

More than 600 fill-in-the-blank style questions are presented for skill levels ranging from novice to expert. Medical students can use Top Doc to prepare for exams; practitioners can use it to sharpen their diagnostic skills.

Navdeep Chehl, a fourth-year medical student at Jefferson Medical College, said the “clear, vivid images and user-friendly format” provided “an effective and enjoyable way to test, refresh and increase” his knowledge.

Meeting a Need

Elsevier has been developing various medical products to meet the growing demand for digital and mobile access.

“As medicine continues to move into the digital space, products like Top Doc will be excellent resources for medical education,” said Randy Charles, Managing Director of Global Clinical Reference. “By offering the program as an iPhone app, Top Doc provides mobile access to medical students and practitioners who value on-the-go learning opportunities and high quality technology capabilities.”

How it Works – and Why

Top Doc users view clinical photographs depicting a physical sign or symptom and try to make the correct diagnosis as quickly as possible. In the game version, the player enters single letters of the alphabet, which fill in spaces to form the correct answer. Three wrong letters result in no credit. But as the student fills in correct letters, the number of remaining characters and the location of these letters serve as clues to prompt memory of the right answer. Questions automatically adjust to the player’s knowledge level.

Players must navigate through multiple levels of difficulty and through all body regions to become the Top Doc. Learning in this way has a scientific basis. Recruiting neural networks to perform pattern completion from partial cues triggers and strengthens memory associations each time the game is played, according to Dr. Patric K. Stanton, Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy at New York Medical College and an expert in cellular mechanisms of learning and memory. This increases the likelihood of retrieving the appropriate information in future test and diagnostic situations, he said. At the conclusion of each fast-paced game,  players are given a final grade based on their performance, which they can automatically post to their Facebook account. A review mode is also available for those who want to study the content in a  non-competitive flashcard format.

“Users are able to experience and react to realistic patient encounters that require quick, concise clinical responses,” said co-author Amber Tully, MD, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at Jefferson Medical College.

Top Doc is available for purchase in the iTunes App store and retails for $14.99.

About the author

This article was written by Lisa Haasbroek with the Consumer Marketing / Product Management division of Legacy Interactive. If you wish to know more about Top Doc she can be reached by email: lisa [at] legacyinteractive [dot] com. Thank you so much for providing the information, Lisa!

HardCORE Swimming is an Exertion Game prototype that combines the use of a Wii Fit balance board, Wii controller and nunchuk to swim through a shark-infested sea while collecting treasure.  In our last healthGAMERS interview we talked Floyd Mueller, an instructor at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who is teaching students the art of computer game design through Exertion Games: games that not only require exercise input but also rely on exercise for game outcomes. Today we talk with one of these innovative student teams.  Kane, Alex, Amber, Dean and Christian have created an exertion game they call HardCORE Swimming, a game that their instructor feels is ready to pitch to Nintendo today.

The interview.

HG: HardCORE Swimming seems to utilize several Wii peripherals.  Can you describe the general gameplay for us?

HCS: The gameplay of HardCORE basically involves the player or players lying on their stomachs in the middle of the Wii balance board and holding the Wii mote and nunchuk in their hands. They lie in the a superman-like pose with their arms outstretched. Basically the player is constantly falling and the only way to stay up is by shaking the Wii mote and nunchuk.

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HG: What makes HardCORE Swimming entertaining?

HCS: At intermittent times a flashing message will appear on the screen saying ‘SHARK INCOMING – LEAN!!!” and a second or so later a shark will rush past the screen. If the player leans to the left on the balance board (basically balancing on their side) then their character will lean and dodge the shark. If they don’t lean to the side they will get eaten. There’s also treasure spawning randomly at the right side of the screen that can be collected to add points to their score.

HG: The ultimate purpose of Exertion Games is to get a great workout while still having fun.  What muscle groups should a player expect to work while playing HardCORE Swimming?

HCS: This game is particularly great for people who want to do abdominal exercises whilst still having fun. Your body’s core is one of the most important things to build when being involved with any physical exercise. In our game, the player is in an existing exercise position called the superman which is designed to work the core. By lying down in a superman pose waggling the remotes out the front and leaning to the side, the player gets quite an abdominal work out.

HG: Is gameplay designed for one player or two?

HCS: There is multi-player mode where two players vie for treasure to stay alive. Two player mode has a slight limitation because each player must haves their own Wii Fit board.  We wanted to figure out a way to make the game more economical and utilize only one balance board, but we need to keep designing.

HG: How did you come up with the concept for HardCORE swimming?  Was there any particular inspiration?

HCS: The concept of HardCORE swimming was originally formed when we were searching for a game idea and one of our team members who is competitive swimmer suggested incorporating something to do with swimming.  The central idea was to get the players to engage in what is actually a very strenuous core body exercise but to distract them using a simple game they could focus on.  Thus hardCORE swimming was created! However, I must stress that we ploughed through many, many ideas before finally settling on this one and as a result we had to rush on the final technical implementation – but it still worked!

HG: Who do you see enjoying this game? Does it appeal to a specific age group?

HCS: HardCORE swimming is a game that is suitable for all ages and gamer skills. It is fun for children whilst teaching them good skills for a balanced lifestyle. It is good for swimming professionals to take time out from real training and enjoy simulated training whilst still having fun.

HG: Studies show that many exergames like Wii Fit are played for two weeks and then never played again. What about your game gives it replayability?

HCS: Our game’s constant replayablility is drawn from the way that it is based on a core exercise. Many people involved in sport or just general fitness already do the superman core exercise, and we have made it more enjoyable to do. The idea that you can beat your existing score or compete against a different opponent also adds to the interest of playing the game over and over.

HG: Your teacher, Mr. Mueller said that he believes this prototype game in particular is ready to market to Nintendo.  What makes your game special compared to other class prototypes?

HCS: We think HardCORE Swimming would appeal to Nintendo because it is a fun game for all people of all ages. It is marketable because it is a simple concept to understand, and the easy interface makes it basically unnecessary for the use of complex instructions. It would be a very suitable game for the Wii console.

Closing remarks.

I think this game has a lot of potential both from an entertainment and physical activity perspective.  I haven’t seen a Wii game that utilizes the core muscle groups, specifically the abs, yet. Perhaps we will see this game or one like it on the market soon.  Congratulations to the HardCORE Swimming team, and best of luck with their prototype!  To see more amazing Exertion Game prototypes from RMIT, Australia, visit their Lecture 2130 website.

I first found out about Floyd Mueller and his creative “Lecture 2130” at the University of Melbourne, Australia from the Games For Health listserve.   Mr. Mueller is doing some pretty amazing stuff with his computer game design students using Exertion Games.  Here’s my fascinating interview with this innovative instructor and how his students are taking exergaming to the next level.

The interview.

HG: For those unfamiliar, define “Exertion Game”?  How is this different from an exergame?

FM: For my work, I use “Exertion Game” because I want to highlight that in my games the exercise affects the game outcome. For example, running on a treadmill while playing Xbox is not an Exertion Game for me. I also use Exertion Game to highlight the game aspect, for example, interactive yoga exercises such as some done with the Wii Balance Board, they are not games. By highlighting these aspects, I hopefully will be able to show designers that there is still a vast amount of potential we have not explored yet!

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HG: Tell us more about your class at RMIT.  How and why did you start teaching physical games “Lecture 2130″?

FM: This is a first year class for aspiring new computer game designers. Through an extensive selection process only the best students with the most potential will be selected, as competition is fierce.  I have been researching “Exertion Interfaces” for almost 10 years now across Europe, the USA and Australia, being interested in designing better technology for the body. This class teaches the important role that physical concepts have in computer games. It evolved from looking at the underlying principles in 3D worlds, as seen particularly in FPS, to the emerging trend of physical games that challenge our understanding of the player’s body. This becomes important when designing for new platforms such as the iPhone, Nike+ and the Nintendo Wii. With this trend from being ‘physical’ in the virtual world to being ‘physical’ in the real world, we realized that there was an opportunity to make a difference to the future careers of young game designers, but also to the future of gamers, as these games can address the obesity issue.

HG: What makes exertion games appealing to students?

FM: Maybe it is a realization that games that go beyond the gamepad experience can be more social, more emotional and healthier. These games will be huge, and change the lives of millions, and students see the market and potential to be creative in an otherwise very competitive market.

HG: I see from your blog that students in your class have to create their own Exertion Games as part of their large final project.  How much did it cost students to create their game?  How long?

FM: The students had 6 weeks from their first class at university, which included forming a group of 5 students, to a Madness session where they had 1 minute to present their idea to 80 other students to get rapid-fire feedback to implementation to demo’ing in week 6, including showcasing the game on their website. They each invested 20 Australian dollars (ca. $US 18), so they had $AU 100 together as a team. Currently, they are preparing for the next demo round to do it all over again with even more exciting games!

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HG: Can you see these games being used in the “real world” such as those made for The Fun Theory?  For example, the Escalatek game could utilize a mall or office building.  How could the game be modified or implemented to benefit the public?

FM: We actually talked about the Fun Theory (it is not actually a theory though) on the blog, and a lot of our games fall into this category. The Escalatek team already has some ideas on this, and I let them (and the others) talk about how they ‘blur the magic circle of play’ (some of the topics discussed in class) in order to benefit the public.

HG: Was there one project in particular (2009 or 2010) you thought had commercial potential?  Why?

FM: I thought the Hardcore Swimming game could be sold for Nintendo tomorrow, so could the Hot Head Balloon game.  The JunkFooders’ Game was loved by everyone because it required so much exertion and could be installed in schools. And another game uses existing Foursquare technology on an iPhone but turns it into a game.

Closing remarks.

There are many, many other creative ideas on the class’s blog.  Each team has a webpage (accessible from the left menu on the class’s blog) where they document their ideas and progress.  Be on the lookout for more ideas from this innovative class, and stay tuned for part 2 of this interview series where we go behind the scenes with one of these amazing student teams.

A Humana press release this morning revealed the three winners of the InsertCoin Game Idea Competition which began last summer.  The goal of the competition was to establish what gamers are looking for in health games and ultimately create better health games for consumers.  Prizes of $5K, $3K and $2K were given to first, second and third place winners respectively.

And the winners are…

Many entered, but only three ideas made the cut.  Here are the lucky winners:

1. Shelly Warmuth of Green Bay, Wisconsin for her idea “Dance Class” where players are taught to dance by virtual dance instructor avatars.
2. John Green of Brooklyn, New York for his idea “Camp Awesome,” a summer camp simulator where players get the full action-packed experience of a camp.
3. Kevin Ray for his idea “Jungle Mayhem,” an activity and social based game.

Everyone at healthGAMERS sends a huge “Congratulations!” to the three winners for their accomplishments.  We look forward to seeing these games produced.  For more information, see the official Humana Games for Health InsertCoin press release.

When I first started healthGAMERS we were in the process of creating a new online health game based on the food pyramid.  At that time, I was researching what was out there.  My conclusion: a call for better Food Pyramid games.  Someone at the USDA must have been reading because the latest news buzzing in the public health sector is the announcement of the USDA Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services (FNCS) Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge.

According to their latest news release, the USDA is challenging the public to create new web-based learning applications, such as health games, to reach more tweens (kids ages 9-12).  The challenge is designed to highlight the Obama Administration’s commitment to combating childhood obesity and improving the national health of America’s youth.  They are providing open source federal datasets on Data.gov and MyPyramid.gov for those that wish to enter.  Access to this data is great in itself!

Contest details.

• Who can apply? Entrepreneurs, software developers, and students who are U.S. citizens and not current USDA or White House employees.
• Who is the target audience? Kids 9-12 years old, aka “tweens”
• What kind of technology is required? Platform information will be posted soon, but entries are to be fully developed web-based games.  All data in the games must from be the USDA Nutrition Dataset and/or the Source Code.
• When is the deadline? Submissions will be accepted in spring 2010.  Further details are to follow.
• What are the prizes? Four prizes will be awarded including Gold ($3,000), Silver ($2,000), Bronze ($1,000) and Popular Choice $2,ooo).
• How are winners decided? All entries will be judged by a panel of public and private sector nutrition and gaming experts based on the following criteria: potential impact on target audience (40%), quality/accuracy/content of messages (20%), creativity/originality (20%) and potential for further development/use (20%).

For further contest information see the USDA Innovations for Healthy Kids Challenge page or sign up for email updates.

As a matter of fact, Interaction Healthcare, a French Health communication agency has recently announced it will promote and distribute Pulse ! the multi-million dollar cutting edge 3D medical and clinical training professional healthgame developed by Texas A&M University and Breakawaygames.com. This French agency was known for its on-line game “Don’t kid with their eyes” dedicated to vision for the young public and developed with the eye-glass world leader Essilor. Europe is also developing complementary solutions like “Patient Rescue” a UK National Health System supported game or the Spanish Medical Simulator.

North Europe countries have also entered in the game field like in Sweden where the University of Skövde has co-developed Elinor, a game based tool for rehabilitation of stroke patients. Interestingly, this University has launched this year the first European Master Degree in Serious games.

At the European Community level, some effort has been put on ehealth. However, there are few projects dedicated to health games. It is interesting to point out this multi-national initiative eldergames.org where experts from Spain, UK and Norway collaborate to create a video play platform connected to internet to monitor cognitive health and welfare in the growing elder population.

I believe 2010 will be an interesting year as we should have a lot of new free or commercial health games coming to market and could be regarded as a critical year for defining trends either in Europe or US.