Most of us know that a walk outside is good for us.
Fads like forest bathing and #HotGirlWalks are all over our social feeds to underscore what scientists have been telling us for years: nature contributes to people’s overall well-being in myriad ways—both physical and mental.
In addition, one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on activity tracking shows that walking at a brisk pace for about 30 minutes every day reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, dementia and death.
But you know who doesn’t do it enough? Children.
A report by the National Recreation and Park Association shows that children today spend less time outdoors than any other generation.
Technology use is increasing, unstructured playtime is decreasing and the time children spend outside is decreasing every year. Can an unlikely ally – in the form of a mobile video game – actually change that? A surprising number of experts are beginning to say yes.
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“It’s the best-kept fitness secret, not the hottest fix,” laughs celebrity personal trainer and model Jen Widerstrom as she shows me a colorful app on her smartphone via Zoom. “I’m level 48 and just today I hit 1,251,000 steps.”
Widerstrom, a former coach of NBC’s Biggest Loser who now works to keep stars like Amy Schumer in shape, talks about a mobile app called Pikmin Bloom (iOS, Android).
“It’s really a game that convinces you that hiking can be fun and interactive and gets you into the community and seeing things,” says Widerstrom.
Pikmin Bloom is the latest title from Niantic – the company behind that other little game you may have heard of called Pokémon Go (iOS, Android), easily one of the most popular mobile games of all time.
Like Pokémon Go, Pikmin Bloom builds on Nintendo’s popular franchise and overlays digital characters with your real world, thanks to the magic of augmented reality, or AR.
“People are at their best when the virtual world we create takes people outside,” Niantic Founder and CEO John Hanke tells me over Zoom. “Our games are all designed to get people off the couch, outside, and into the real world.”
I was an early tester of Pikmin Bloom when it was still in beta this time last year and started using it regularly again about two months ago. It connects to smartphone or smartwatch health data and allows you to earn new characters, rewards and features within the game the more you walk, jog or even hop outside.
“It’s a cross between an exercise application and a video game,” explains Hanke. “There are these adorable little creatures that you collect and they follow you along the way. As you move, your steps are counted and you can plant flowers, collect new characters, and feed and care for your Pikmin. You really take the fun that video games have in terms of characters, progression and leveling and combine it with outside activities.”
Niantic recently introduced new features that allow you to team up with family and friends to complete a challenge as a group, earn achievements, and share results on social media. Kids too young for smartphones can play with parents on adult devices, and a new wheelchair feature logs bumps and steps.
I also like using it as a kind of life logging app to see where I’ve been in the world and to collect photos, which is also a feature Widerstrom mentioned. She also uses the private group feature with her clients and says they love it when they log more steps than she does on a daily basis.
“It’s a really interesting look into the future where our digital and physical worlds connect in healthier ways, especially for kids growing up behind screens,” adds Widerstrom.
Mobile video games use AR IRL
With so much talk about the metaverse these days and questions about how our digital and physical worlds will continue to blend, some experts say apps like Pikmin Bloom are on track to celebrate the “green time,” or time in the to encourage freedom.
“Recent advances in mobile AR make it possible for the first time – especially for children – to combine screen time and ‘green time’ in a fun and productive way,” says Dr. Tali Ditye, co-founder and editor-in-chief of parent advice site Mommyhood101 writes via email. “My niece of seven regularly plays Pikmin Bloom and navigates the neighborhood near her home in New Hampshire. She gets off the couch, experiences her real world surroundings in a whole new way and gains steps and confidence in the process!”
“AR has the potential to bring digital experiences to the world around you,” Neil Voss, gaming industry veteran and co-founder of Anima, an augmented reality platform and creative studio, tells me via email. “We’ve seen that using this potential to send people on adventures — encouraging them to go places to discover things in the real world — has tremendously positive results.”
The app is not perfect and may be buggy if you are in a location with low cellular connection. Since it uses location data, there may be a bit of battery drain too. But the hardest thing for me is putting it down.
“Especially with Pikmin, you can have it in your pocket and not use it ‘actively’ all the time,” Hanke said when I asked him about it. “It continues to track your steps, summarizes your end-of-day tally and what you’ve earned, and motivates you to keep going the next day and beyond.”
