UK government creates apocalyptic app
pharmafile | December 13, 2013 | News story | Medical Communications | UK, digital, government, the walk
The Department of Health has this week released an Apple and Android game app designed to get the UK public moving.
‘The Walk’ has been designed by the developers of the highly successful Zombies, Run! app, which currently encourages over 750,000 people to escape pursuing zombies whenever they go for a jog.
The government has used similar mechanics with its post-apocalyptic game but has lowered expectations from jogging to walking, as more people will be able to benefit.
The focus is on increasing general daily movement rather than dedicated, prescribed training routines. The mission is simple: to ensure safe transit of a package from Inverness, to Edinburgh – and in the process save the world.
But there’s a twist: a terrorist attack has rendered all motorised transport unusable, meaning the user – known only as The Walker – will have to complete the game on foot.
The concept is a simple one and if Zombies, Run! is anything to go by, it should encourage players to walk in the real world as part of an apocalyptic game narrative. The user’s smartphone tracks movements, unlocking levels and hours of story-telling audio which drive the plot along.
The difficulty of the game and the number of steps needed to complete chapters, is adaptable and adjusts itself based on a learning algorithm.
The UK government will hope that this app could go some way to cutting the estimated £8 billion that obesity and alcohol related diseases cost the NHS per year, using the mechanics of gamification – i.e., challenge and reward.
“We already know from Zombies, Run! that a great story can motivate people of all fitness levels to move more,” Naomi Alderman, co-creator and lead writer of both Zombies, Run! and The Walk, said in a statement.
“I’m particularly proud of the immersive world we’ve created in The Walk – with engaging characters and a gripping story but also a host of maps, newspaper cuttings, audio artefacts and even a comic strip you’ll find to help you work out who did plant that bomb in Inverness station, and why. The Walk is designed to be addictive, in the best possible way.”
Public-private partnership
This is the second release in a collection of apps funded as part of the UK’s Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI).
The first was called StepJockey, an app that lets you map, locate, rate and log the calorific expenditure of staircases around your city, and which came out earlier in the week.
In all, five apps have been developed in the programme and each is designed to get the public to move more, or change health negative habits such as drinking too much.
The Department of Health has spent around £2 million on this round of investment, which forms part of a growing trend of using digital strategies to help curb unhealthy behaviour.
Ben Adams
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