ASCES: A Balanced Game Based Solution for Chronic Diseases

Worldwide the prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically, making it one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases and healthcare costs. The treatment of obesity is difficult, as it is a multifactorial problem. Obesity hampers treatment of many other chronic diseases like COPD and diabetes. It is known that at an early age a reset in the programming of body cells can occur, inducing a lifelong sensitivity for the development of obesity. Recent research has shown that changes in body composition can already start in children as young as 4 years old. Obesity is not just a matter of too much food and too little exercise. It should be handled from many different perspectives, not at least from a psychological and family-based perspective. In this project, we focus on the prevention of obesity in children using an e-health obesity prevention program: ASCeS (Anima Sana, Corporus Sana). This presentation shows the first prototype of this game based application. It will also show the development process with the Game of Games (a game to build games). The game is based upon the balanced scorecard principle, on four critical obesity factors objectives are formulated and (automatically) measured. A Tamagotchi will show if you perform well on these critical areas. The game will combine Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality but ultimately Reality. It can be tweaked to the real circumstances (demographics and professional healthcare).