Mobile app brings health education to kids through augmented reality
California-based tech company Stayhealthy Inc. introduced a new mobile augmented reality (AR) app this April that’s geared toward engaging and immersing kids in learning about their own health.
The app, called Color Quest: An Art Adventure, involves a cast of animated characters that are activated when a child “colors” them in on a mobile device, according to a statement from Stayhealthy. When the user colors in a character—which range from fruits to vegetables to bodily organs—that character comes to life through AR.
“For example, a child can color a heart which will lead to a visual and audio prompt with facts about how the heart actually works,” the company wrote in the statement. “The character can then be placed in a real-world environment anywhere the child chooses. As the character comes to life in the actual colors used by the child, it creates a personal experience for the child.”
The company said it hopes the app, which prompts kids to learn about health in a game-like environment without making it feel like a classroom, will lead to a decrease in the continuously growing childhood obesity epidemic.
Color Quest is the first of a suite of personalized AR healthcare apps Stayhealthy plans to release in 2019. It’s also launching its patented Body Fact Index (BFI) technology this spring, which challenges traditional BMI measurements to provide a more comprehensive picture of a person’s health. The app introducing the BFI tech will also implement AR.
“The BFI app is a game-changer that is destined to play a pivotal role in giving consumers an all-inclusive experience in managing their own health, measuring excess body fat and creating a healthier lifestyle,” Stayhealthy wrote.
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.