Image credit: Tako Dojo game by
Grifo MultimediaGames for Health Europe 2018, to be held on 8 & 9 October at TAC (Temporary Art Centre) Eindhoven in The Netherlands, includes on its first day program the session Tako Dojo: A Game App For Kids With Diabetes, presented by Roberta Memeo.
Graduated with honors in Arts from the University of Florence (Italy) in 1993, she has been working for Grifo Multimedia since its foundation in 1997. She recently successfully managed PERGAMON (PERvasive Serious GAMes suppOrted by Virtual CoachiNg), a project funded under the ICT Call of the Horizon 2020 Program, and has been working as project management in Tako Dojo, a Serious Game for diabetic children developed by Grifo and sponsored by the pharma company A. Menarini Diagnostics
Tako Dojo is a game created and designed to meet the needs of young patients with diabetes, encouraging self-empowerment for independent management of their disease, and supporting treatment adherence.
Tako Dojo is set in a fantasy world inspired by the Japanese tradition and culture, made up of engaging games and populated by little colorful octopuses (Tako in Japanese), that have five tentacles to represent the five fingers of the hand that people with diabetes usually prick to measure their blood glucose. The Takos train in the Dojo, that is, the gym, to learn how to manage and keep their G-Energy levels balanced. G-Energy is the glucose energy that indicates the level of wellness of the Takos (in the game, the metaphor of balance is adopted to immerse players into the dynamics of balancing the blood glucose values to be achieved and kept under control).
The educational app is integrated with A. Menarini Diagnostics’ blood glucose monitoring devices, encouraging self-care related activities such as self-monitoring of blood glucose (BGM), which is one of the most important activities in managing diabetes.
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
“Enter the world of the Takos, cute
little octopuses that get their training in special gyms called Dojos, and
learn how to keep their G-Energy, or Glucose Energy, balanced.”
Tako Dojo is divided into 4 sections that give access to a
number of functions:
• The Dojo (or Gym),
that is the entry point to five mini-games and one adventure game. In the adventure game
the player takes on the role of an investigator who tries to solve a mystery. Access
to the main game is granted only when users have gained enough points in the
additional five mini-games, which are designed to communicate certain
educational objectives related to the chronic condition.
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
• The Library
is the place where the player can acquire useful information on how to manage
proper self-care (nutrition, sport, monitoring and insulin therapy).
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
“Find out all there is to know about diabetes and a healthy lifestyle, Tako-Style, follow these cute little octopuses who are the guardians of the G-Energy.”
“Find out all there is to know about diabetes and a healthy lifestyle, Tako-Style, follow these cute little octopuses who are the guardians of the G-Energy.”
In the Library,
players can access five information pills, short animated videos that provide
information in a playful way about diabetes and the treatment usually adopted
to manage this condition. Each pill contains a self-evaluation test to check
the user’s knowledge. These are the topics covered by each information pill: What
is Diabetes, Monitoring Blood Glucose and Diabetes Warning Signs, Insulin
Therapy, Diet and Physical Activity, and Diabetic Ketoacidosis.
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
“On this page you will find some information pills, which will help you to learn more about diabetes and how to make appropriate self-care decisions.”
“On this page you will find some information pills, which will help you to learn more about diabetes and how to make appropriate self-care decisions.”
• The Square where
users can view their scores and rankings.
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
• The House, where
users can access the Glycemic Diary, automatically updated with blood glucose
measurements thanks to the synchronization with A. Menarini Diagnostics’
glucose meters.
Image credit: Tako Dojo game by Grifo Multimedia
Tako Dojo builds the story of the games around the diabetes
management processes, and integrates glucose meters, so that players can gain
additional points and increase their ranking by simply performing blood glucose
measurements, always complying with what is prescribed by their physician.
Tako Dojo primarily targets people with diabetes, especially
young, but it can also be used by medical staff, family and caregivers, who can
monitor in the app the blood glucose levels of the user.
Tako Dojo is available for free, in the
Android and iOS version, on Google
Play and the App Store