For once, video games may be good for your physical health and physicians are encouraging players to take advantage of its health benefits. Pokémon Go is a free-to-play augmented reality mobile game developed by Niantic for iOS and Android devices. The game allows players to capture, battle, and train virtual Pokémon who appear throughout the real world.
Pokémon Go stands apart from most other games because to play the player must move around – a lot.
Making progress in the game requires tracking nearby Pokemon icons. The game tells players approximately where you can find an icon, and the game gives you another good reason to cover some pretty significant distances: to hatch Pokémon eggs. When the player obtains an egg, usually at a Pokéstop, it can be placed in an incubator to wait for it to hatch. But the time it takes to hatch is up to the player which can require a walk from two to five kilometers (1.2 to 3.1 miles) for incubation to complete.
“Walking can be the single best form of exercise a person can do,” said Nita Shumaker, MD, a Chattanooga pediatrician with Galen North Pediatrics and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Medical Society director. “On average a kilometer equals about 1,250 steps. As players reach their goals, those steps can add up quickly. This is a great way to exercise and explore your environment.”
The app uses the phone camera and GPS to create an augmented reality for players, showing the Pokémon in the real world so players can catch them. But there are dangers linked to the game:
· Pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t pay exclusive attention to the screen while playing. Traffic, running into immovable objects and potential tripping hazards can cause serious injury. And above all, don’t play in the street.
· Wear sunscreen while playing during the hot summer days to avoid burns. Also, bring water to keep you hydrated.
· Don’t play the game while driving. Like texting or making a phone call, wait until the destination has been reached before engaging your mobile device.
· Don’t trespass, including entering stranger’s yards, closed areas, and construction zones.
· Be aware of your surroundings and travel in groups if possible. Over the weekend, suspects in other cities reportedly used the app to track and rob people playing the game by adding a beacon to a Pokéstop to lure more people to a certain location.
Locally, a Facebook fan page was founded last week for the Chattanooga Pokémon Go Trainers group following the game’s launch. Seven hundred members, joining the group in just over a few days, share installation tips and screenshots of Pokémon caught in unusual places thanks to augmented reality technology that can show Pokémon in places like kitchens and parks.