SALT LAKE CITY – With help from Brigham Young University students, Primary Children’s Hospital is tapping into technology so patients have the chance to get in on the Pokemon Go craze without leaving the hospital.
Pokemon Go is a massive hit around the world. Millions of people, young and old, around the world use the smartphone app to hunt real-world locations to catch hidden Pokemon creatures. But for those stuck in hospital beds, it’s game over.
“We developed this idea of hey, why not leverage this phenomenon and do some good with it?” said
Andrew Forrest with BYU Adlab.
Marketing students from BYU’s Adlab teams came up with a way to bring Pokemon Go to patients at Primary Children’s Hospital.
Students created a Go for Good platform. Via screen sharing technology, kids play the game in real time and volunteers act as live personal avatars for patients, following their every command.
Camron Talbot is joined in on the Pokemon Go fun from his hospital bed with his brother as his avatar.
On Tuesday, the 9-year-old tells his brother and some BYU students where to go and what he sees.
“What do you see right now Camron? You just shot it and it’s caught.
There we go, we got it! Boom, there we go!” Camron said.
It’s the next best thing to actually being out there running around with his brother.
“It’s entertaining me and it’s making me have more fun at the hospital,” Camron said.
The Pokemon fan was declared cancer free a few months ago, but is back at Primary’s. He’s taking tests to find out if he’s relapsed.
“We’re hoping this time again, we beat the cancer,” said Karen Talbot, Camron’s mother.
While he waits for an answer, he’s busy collecting Pokemon.
BYU Adlab teams envision providing this outlet for hospital patients across the country.
“We’ve been able to have a lot of passion behind it because it’s something that we believe in and we know that we’re doing something good,” Forrest said.
To learn more about Go for Good and how it works, click here.
