Gotta catch’em all: ready, set, (pokemon) GO!

Abstract

Pokemon Go is a virtual reality game that mixes the smart mobile technology with real life exploration. The aim of this research is to investigate whether Pokemon Go app increases the levels of physical activity. Thirty-two healthy subjects were included in this 5-week study (12 males and 20 females, age 18-49) and they were allocated into three groups, experimental group: new trainers (N=10) and control groups: regular trainers (N=11) and nontrainers (N=11). Level of physical activity was assessed using Pedometer – Step Counter Free & Calorie Burner that counts daily walking distance in km and steps. Subjects were instructed to provide screenshots of their km recorded. At each level of measurement groups significantly differed in walking distance (p<0.01). The time did not have significant effect on the walking distance. The interaction effect was significant from fourth level to fifth level of measurement (p<005). LSD test revealed that regular trainers significantly differed from both, new and non-trainers, having the most walked distance. New trainers and non-trainers did not differ in the level physical activity in the first three weeks, but in the fourthand fifth-week new trainers group significantly increased the levels of physical activity regarding non-trainers group (mean difference +21.688 and +15.688, respectively). In the first two weeks, the new trainers group walked 27km, and after the installation of the games, the increase was more than 10 km. It could be concluded that Pokemon Go app has impact on the levels of physical activity, but some period of time is needed for participants to learn how to play the game and enjoy it.