Released in July of 2016, Pokemon Go app, has gained lot of popularity in 30 different countries around the world. The game concept is based on the real outside world. For the first time, technology is nudging millennials to get off their couch and move around their neighborhoods. Last week I wrote a blog on the importance of daily walking and how technology and our modern city structures prevent us from walking. Our sedentary lifestyle greatly contributes to the obesity and diabetes epidemic especially among teenagers. Pokemon Go is a great tool to motivate individuals to go out and become more active.

Apps like Pokemon Go may be part of future solutions to curb the obesity epidemic. The Internet has become an integral part of our life. Why not use it to improve our health in cities like Houston? Rather than developing apps and games that isolate us from one another and confine us to dark rooms and virtual realities, newer apps ought to do the opposite. Augmented reality apps may indeed be a more natural option for our well being. Transforming our smartphone, a device that promotes laziness and disconnection from our surroundings, is a good thing. Walking a few miles a day, getting some sun exposure, breathing fresh air, and socializing with neighbors is simple yet vital to our physical and mental health.

I am hoping to see more app development along those lines that motivate and encourage humans at a subconscious level to get up and move. Improving our neighborhood walk-ability while encouraging our citizens to move may prove to be an effective approach for preventing weight gain and associated diseases.