If you’re a video game enthusiast, you know that even as some people complain they’re a blight on society, games have become as artistically and technically challenging as any other art form.
Now, to use a gaming phrase, they’ve leveled up.
Video games are now medicine!
The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved a video game-based treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The game at the heart of that treatment is called EndeavorRx, and players guide their character through a series of obstacles to collect targets and earn rewards.
The clinical studies showed that school-aged kids with ADHD improved their attentiveness by playing the game, though they say it’s most effective when it’s paired with more inside-the-box treatments like therapy and medication.
There’s a lot of research underway into how “digital therapy” can be effective in treating a range of conditions and disorders.
For starters, telling a kid that they have a prescription from a doctor that says they have to play a video game 30 minutes a day is probably going to go over pretty well.
And since technology is solving all kinds of issues these days, here’s the story of Kelly Passek, a school librarian in western Virginia.
Passek wanted her students to keep reading even during summer break.
But how to get kids and books together while schools and libraries are closed?
Drones, of course.
A drone delivery project called Wing has been testing service in Passek’s town, and she thought, if drones can send over meals and packages, why can’t they also send over something to read?
The library drone missions are getting underway, which sounds like just about the coolest summer reading program of all time.
Children with ADHD can now be prescribed a video game, FDA says (CNN)
Google-backed drones will drop library books so kids in Virginia can do their summer reading (Washington Post)
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