Tech

Pokemon GO Latest News: Study Shows Game Can Help You Live 41 Days Longer

Niyati S.
First Posted: Dec 10, 2016 04:50 AM EST

A new study has claimed that the highly popular game "Pokemon GO" adds to your life by more than a month!

We have all been there- "Pokemon GO" was quite an obsession this year. Our childhood was ruled by Pokemon and suddenly, Niantic released a virtual reality game which let you behave the same way as Ash and Misty and Brock did.

We could finally capture our own Pikachus and Squirtles. We could train them and make them fight battles. Apart from all the entertainment, it may seem that Pokemon GO has some latest news for us, too. It was all a wonderful launch and it was very well received throughout the year.

There were some ups and downs, as the "fad" gradually lost its velocity. However, with latest updates and offers making rounds in the Christmas season, the popularity is now again redirected to Pokemon GO.

A new study has claimed that playing Pokemon GO adds around 41 days to your life, if you play it regularly. This is completely opposite of what we have been hearing all of this time.

There were previous reports which indicated that playing Pokemon GO was a huge health hazard. However, it may seem that the game actually has tangible health benefits. There have been several Pokemon GO news which have either appreciated or criticised by different sources.

People reported different injuries as a result of going into dangerous areas (open roads, unmapped territories). There were several newspaper reports covering this aspect of Pokemon GO. 

However, as has been reported by the researchers at the prestigious Stanford University in the United States, as well from the experts at Microsoft, Pokemon Go players walked an extra 1,473 steps a day, roughly 25 per cent more activity, while playing the augmented reality game.

"One of the things I'm most excited about is that the game was played by lots of people that are overweight or obese, and who were not very active prior to playing the game," Tim Althoff from Stanford University's Computer Science department and one of the report's authors told BBC Trending. 

When people are aged between 15 and 49, an extra 1000-1500 steps everyday can help boost your health and add around 41-42 days in your average life expectancy. 

"The study by researchers at Stanford University and Microsoft Research in the US analysed movement data shared by 32,000 users of the wearable device Microsoft Band, and web queries on search engine Bing over a three month period from the date the game launched in the US." 

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