DIGITAL - Pokémon GO Helps Kids with Autism

Pokémon GO may be a lot more than just a fun distraction for kids on the autism spectrum.

It has the potential to offer kids social engagement, outdoor activity, and a game that plays to their strengths while also providing developmental opportunities.

Pokémon GO, which gets players out of the house in their efforts to hatch eggs, visit Poké stops and gyms, and “catch ‘em all,” also has the potential to get autistic kids socializing and engaging in ways that they might otherwise struggle with or avoid.

Kids on the autism spectrum enjoy and benefit from screen-based media, including video games.

Although there has been controversy over how video games might contribute to anti-social behaviour in kids, parents of kids on the autism spectrum tend to support, rather than discourage, their kids’ interest in video games. Multiple studies have found that video games, particularly storytelling games, can contribute to positive social behaviour in kids on the autism spectrum.

Daniel Bormann of the University of Freiburg, the lead researcher in a 2015 study, said in a press release that video games hook into general principles of human motivation, and that “successful game franchises offer meaningful choices to shape the game's narrative and environment, provide carefully balanced challenges, or encourage players to experience social connectedness and meaningful social interactions.”

Pokémon GO takes these positive effects and amplifies them by bringing kids out of the house and giving them a ready-made social setting when they come across other players.

Intense focus and enthusiastic excitement are common features of kids on the autism spectrum, and can draw negative attention from their neurotypical counterparts. This can make socializing difficult, and is one of the barriers to neurodivergent kids successfully engaging with their peers.  

One parent, Lenore Koppelman, told CNN, “The kids are so fixated on catching Pokemon that they are concentrating on finding them more than they are concentrating on his behaviors like they usually do.”

Not only does Pokémon GO provide a shared focus for neurotypical kids and kids on the autism spectrum, it also allows autistic kids to shine by highlighting their strengths.

Kids on the autism spectrum tend to be great at memorizing facts and learning the details of an interest, and Pokémon GO rewards their focus. This shouldn’t be surprising, since Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of the Pokémon franchise, is rumoured to have Asperger syndrome. The game was developed out of Tajiri’s love of bug collecting.

Kids with autism are not the only neurodivergent people seeing benefits from Pokémon GO.

Players with depression and anxiety have also reported that the game is helping them, even beyond the positive effects already associated with some video games.

So Pokémon GO and other video games can be included with options like animal assisted and more traditional therapy that have a positive impact on personal well-being.

Parents can learn more by downloading the Parents’ Guide to Pokémon GO.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

DIGITAL - Tapping Into Pokemon GO's Success

(pokemon.com)

Pokémon GO has been available across North America for over a month now, and although the app is still rolling out globally (it is still not officially available in China, South Korea, or India), the impact is universal.

Answering the question of what, exactly, the Pokémon-inspired paradigm shift looks like is tricky.

It’s clear that the paradigm shift involves how users interact with each other and with the world around them, through and with technology.

Pokémon GO ties into the Internet of Things in a big way, pulling the caricatured nerds out of their basements and into broad daylight. Augmented Reality (AR) is not new, but Pokémon GO has revolutionized user acceptance of and interaction with AR.

The positives are plentiful.

According to various sources, the app has the potential to make physical therapy and hospital stays much easier and more accessible for kids, can help with depression, and can improve overall mental, emotional and physical health by encouraging physical activity, allowing intergenerational connection, and providing a sense of community and belonging.

Pokémon GO has also proven itself to be a positive for businesses, and Pokémon gyms and stops have both been used to drive sales and bring in customers.

And the app’s extensive permissions are a positive for the business acquiring users information and a significant privacy issue for the users whose information is being captured, stored, and potentially shared.

Privacy isn’t the only concern for users.

Some of the negatives associated with the game, such as finding a dead body or being robbed, seem like rare and one-off concerns that don’t really impact most players. But issues of accessibility are a real concern, and players have noted that the game reinforces existing economic and racial inequalities.

If companies want to learn from Niantic’s success and leverage AR and viral marketing in their apps and advertising, they will have to find ways to tap into those positive outcomes and mitigate the negative ones.

Paying attention to advocacy groups that are providing suggestions and insights for the game has the potential to give other developers a boost in communities that are often forgotten. In an economic climate where every dollar counts, these untapped markets may be a significant source of revenue, in addition to the social benefits of evening out systemic inequalities.

It won’t be easy for businesses and app developers to recreate Niantic’s success.

Although they spent very little in marketing, Pokémon GO benefits from significant brand recognition and from 20 years of gamers dreaming of playing the game out in the real world. The nostalgia factor is significant, and difficult to replicate.

However, the game does represent a huge leap forward in AR, and in user expectations.

Adding AR to everything from pet tracking apps to museum trips is suddenly much more feasible because users have had a positive experience in the game and are ready to engage with AR apps more enthusiastically.

Although AR has been tried many times before, Pokémon GO opens the door in a way no other app or device has.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

DIGITAL - Pokemon Go Goes to the Dogs

The Pokemon craze has unleashed throngs of volunteers to step up and walk rescue dogs as they tap into the online antics.

And Phil Peckinpaugh, director of the Muncie Animal Shelter in Indiana, is stoked to see how the popular game has played out in terms of benefiting canines in care.

"I'm flabbergasted!" Peckinpaugh said on the CBC's As It Happens.

"I think it's just one of those things that is so simple. It's just a great fit — people love the game and they love dogs!"

The shelter posted a call out on Facebook for volunteers to take dogs along while they were on the hunt for Pokemon characters and soon found itself inundated with people wanting to help out.

Reaching an audience of nearly two million – the shelter saw people lined up to walk so-called “Pokemon dogs,” averaging about 70 would-be volunteers a day compared to the more typical one or two.

"I've never seen so many people out enjoying our city and getting involved with this animal shelter," Peckinpaugh said.

The family dog has also been subjected to more and longer walks as owners incorporate the game into their daily dog walking routine.

Social media has been flooded with memes as the tired pooches relax after their walks.

"It gives me a reason: I've got to take the dog for a walk. If I tell my wife, I am going to play Pokémon Go for a half hour, it wouldn't go over as well," William Kimbark, a 29-year-old market researcher from Long Island, told USA Today.

No doubt about it, Pokeman has proven a world-wide hit.

The smartphone-based augmented reality experience relies on GPS data to allow players to “capture” virtual creatures on their phones in real-world locations.

Police in some municipalities have warned players to use caution and common-sense when trying to “catch them all,” urging people to not play while driving, for instance.

Daily news reports show unfortunate incidents where the free-to-play game has become all-consuming and led to some odd and also unfortunate circumstances.

According to CBC, that includes “injuries, robberies, lost jobs, love connections, pleas from police, the discovery of a dead body and a $7.5-billion U.S surge in Nintendo's market value.”

Two men suffered injuries after playing Pokeman Go north of San Diego, California – both plunging several stories off a crumbling sandstone bluff.

“I think people just need to realize this is a game,” Encinitas Fire Department's battalion chief, Robbie Ford, told the Los Angeles Times.

“It's not worth your life. No game is worth your life.”

Dog owners are warned to not push their dogs past their limits and keep their walks within the dog’s capabilities.

Peckinpaugh is keenly aware of the cautionary real-life tales and concedes some distracted gamers could put themselves and dogs in harm's way.

But, he told the CBC, he says those risks are mitigated given volunteers are screened to ensure they understand their responsibility and play safely while dogs get to reap the rewards of tagging along.

“Obviously, the love of the dogs and wanting to be involved in the community is the number one priority," Peckinpaugh said. "The game is just a bonus!"

 

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia Moharib is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.