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Date: Monday 27 April 2015
Media outlet: News.com.au
Heading: “Sonoa Health wins University of Utah prize as it moves
towards creating a Facebook-style website for your health”
Web link: Access the article online HERE or view below
Sonoa Health wins University of
Utah prize as it moves towards
creating a Facebook-style website
for your health
In one of the games, users control a asthmatic boy as he runs around.
However, users start losing game lives if they make him run too fast
or if they don’t recognise when he needs his asthma puffer.
AN Australian start-up has been recognised overseas for
using gaming to help improve health as part of a personalised
website that millions could soon be using.
Sonoa Health has taken out first prize at the University of Utah’s
Games4Health competition for a series of personalised games
targeting individual health issues.
Sonoa’s Health&games team, led by Dr Bow Tauro, is developing a
series of games to raise awareness of certain health conditions.
“The video gaming industry has long been criticised for
contributing to health issues and social isolation, but we believe
that community-connected and positive online health programs
are the way forward for engaging people in healthier lifestyles,” Dr
Tauro said.
It is part of a broader push by Sonoa Health to digitised your
health history.
Dr Tauro said that the Health& website would allow you to enter
information about your health in a centralised spot so that it can
provide a reminder of what health complaints you have had in
the past.
You can also set up competitions among your friends and create a
leaderboard to see who is leading the challenge. The app will send
you alerts on your phone to update you on how your friends are faring.
Sonoa is also looking at how it can provide users with rewards,
like a Boost Juice voucher or a gym class, to encourage people to
keep updating their profile.
The site will allow you to synch your FitBit or Nike Watch to your
page to allow for a more accurate picture of your health.
The full website is expected to launch later this year and will charge
individuals $60 a year while a family can sign up for $100 a year.
As you provide more information, the website starts to unlock free
health tests that are particular to your circumstances.
“We have harvested the knowledge of Australia’s most respected
medical professors to create unique algorithms that replicate
the decision-making processes of a doctor, online. It learns
about you and guides you to perform preventive health checks
throughout your lifetime,” Dr Tauro said. “This is supported by
a comprehensive search engine of engaging, entertaining and
educational health information.”
It will also include a mobile app that sends you personalised
health alerts.
“You have your music and your photos of your phone, the only
thing that really isn’t there is your health,” Dr Tauro said.
The Health& portal also allows you to find a doctor or a specific
health facility and make an appointment with just a few clicks.
Sonoa has already attracted interest in its Health& service from the
United Arab Emirates and is expected to conduct a pilot study in
the Middle East after the Australian launch.