Evo, the First Prescription-Strength Video Game?
bloomberg.com
bloomberg.com
It never occurred to me to try to raise tens of millions of dollars for medical trials and then charge a huge amount to insurers!
It does strike me as dubious that the investors are backing this game. When surely any positive result would hold for any number of similar games. A branding play, presumably 'we're the game that did the trials'. But it does seem like that relies on ignorance of what games are available. It remains to be seen if and when they actually show the gameplay!
Though I have thought about polishing the game and reissuing it, with ipad support and less mystical mumbo-jumbo.
Each 'level' is a figure consisting of nodes and connecting arcs. You start by placing your finger at any node, and you move your finger until all arcs have been traced. Lift your finger, and you lose immediately. Touch the screen with another finger or part of your hand: you also lose immediately. Move too far from the arc and your accuracy bar depletes, move too quickly and it also depletes. If the bar is gone, you lose. Finish all arcs and you have succeeded.
The challenge is partly in working out which node to start on, and which route to take, to be able to trace all arcs only once. But that isn't a very hard challenge. The main point is to slow down and move consistently and carefully. It should be meditative if done correctly.
It's a digital form of something I've done, personally, for a long time: trace my finger in particular patterns slowly and meditatively. I have a weakness for symbolic, vaguely mystical claptrap, so for me I've given the patterns meanings. It's pointless, really, and maybe pretentious, but it is calming, and not as easy as it sounds to draw a perfect infinity (say) at a constant slow speed without jerking movement. Concentrating on the figure and the symbolism is a form of meditation, I find. So that was the idea. Besides a small number of keen players, it didn't seem to appeal to many. Perhaps it was the slightly pretentious tone: I veered a bit too mystical in the design I think.
The difference is that games, unlike drugs, are not mechanistically patentable (correct me if wrong please). Someone could create a close-enough lookalike, and sell it for $1. And if it really works, which I sort of don't believe, then it would improve access to real therapy. A lookalike would not have some of their proprietary evaluation system based on ever-questionable psychology metrics, but I bet a few hours with the game would show the gist of it: "You're paying attention! High score!" "You're old and also can't rearrange the blocks like you used to," -->poor executive function and memory, maybe dementia, etc
And yet given the ubiquity of the standard cognitive battery tests like MMSE and Minicog, I do question whether any therapist would ever recommend a substitute. The difference is these tests are often printed out on paper and royalties are not paid to the owners, whereas a tighly controlled Saas model would really cut down on illegal distribution and encourage alternatives.
But thank you.
Does anyone have some additional information of how this video game plans to treat autism / ADHD?
http://www.feelguide.com/2014/11/19/harvard-unveils-mri-stud...
It seems like it could be useful, so it's a shame either Cochrane haven't repeated their analysis or that other researchers aren't doing good quality research on meditation.
And you can make money off it. You give it a brand and sell DVDs. That brand then gets assessed, and promoted. Other people who come along and rip off the brand are not being recommended.
Current English advice for ADHD is here: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg72
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogmed
"Cogmed working memory training is sold as a tool for improving cognitive abilities, such as attention and reasoning. At present, this program is marketed to schools as a means of improving underperforming students’ scholastic performance, and is also available at clinical practices as a treatment for ADHD. We review research conducted with Cogmed software and highlight several concerns regarding methodology and replicability of findings. We conclude that the claims made by Cogmed are largely unsubstantiated, and recommend that future research place greater emphasis on developing theoretically motivated accounts of working memory training."
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211368112...
It looks like it does the same thing than other click-fest-attention-grabbing games on mobile OS. The claim that as you progress you need to "multitask" more, seems familiar. They maybe adding their on twist on it. So, Minion Rush with a metric based difficulty generator?
I've always hoped someone would remake it for mobile or VR. The music/synth engine alone would make a pretty neat app.
https://web.archive.org/web/20130511003457/http://sparx.org....
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-an-app-help-you-ditch-your-r...