According to the humanitarian medical charity Doctors of the World. Pokémon GO is a thing of yesterday and its use of the augmented reality (AR) app Traces is the new craze, utilising it as a treasure hunting app to find Health Heroes around the city of London.
What using Traces for with this medical application is all about is celebrating health pioneers in a way where you can catch and learn. When one of the Health Heroes is nearby, a bubble appears, and to catch them the player must move their phone towards it and tap on the screen. This will then show an illustration of the Hero and explains their story.
The figures who will feature in the videogame will include: Dr James Parkinson, who first diagnosed Parkinson’s Disease and became an activist for the underprivileged, and Mary Seacole a Jamaican-born British nurse who went behind enemy lines in the Crimea to treat wounded soldiers in the 1800s, as well as four others.
In a press release, Dr Beau Lotto, CEO and Founder of Traces, explained in her words what the app is all about: “When we created Traces, we wanted to emphasize the importance of the giving side of sharing in the real world, rather than the broadcasting online as is so often the case. Neuroscience teaches us that our brain is always creating meaning in the world around us and that context is so important. In the case of this competition Traces will allow people to connect with the ‘Health Heroes’ at a place where London has paid tribute to them.”
Executive Director of Doctors of the World UK, Leigh Daynes, explained the importance of having an app like this: “We hope people have fun catching and learning about some of history’s greatest healthcare pioneers. Thanks to them most of us don’t die needlessly from preventable illnesses anymore. Yet globally some 400 million people do not have access to essential health services, including in the UK. The Health Heroes featured in this game stood for social justice and empowerment, values which today drive our work helping vulnerable people get the healthcare they need.”
The Traces app to capture Health Heroes is currently available to download and use and locations of the Health Heroes have been revealed on the Doctors of the World and Traces social media networks.
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