Can a game get people to stop smoking? At UC Santa Barbara, the Health Games Research program is funding development of "Lit: A Game Intervention For Nicotine Smokers," a mobile app that aims to help players quit smoking, with a $150,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Initially planned for the iPhone and iPod Touch, the game is being designed by Columbia University's Teachers College.

 

In the game, players will breathe into the microphone of their mobile device and then receive audio and visual feedback that will mimic the physical and physiological effects of smoking, such as increasing your heart rate. The developers hope the game will serve as a type of replacement therapy. The ideal: that "Lit" will cause smokers to reach for their smart phones rather than their cigarettes. If it works, it might rank as the healthiest game on record.

 

The article "Apps And Videogames To Keep You Healthy" was published on January 21st, 2010 in Forbes Magazine. http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/20/iphone-apps-videogames-technology-breakthroughs-health.html