"On the top of high towers..." discussing locations in a mobile health game for diabetics

The potential impact of "games for health" on education and motivation within healthcare has been widely discussed and is the focus of many current research projects. Games, running on mobile devices, with attached biosensors and Internet access, promise to unfold an increased influence on individual health related behavior. In particular, for the prevention and management of so called "lifestyle diseases" such as obesity or diabetes, game designers explore a wide range of Ubiquitous Technologies. As mobile health games are played within user´s everyday life, they find their way into our cities: parks, schools, offices or shopping centers are their potential playgrounds. This article discusses three concepts for a mobile game for children with diabetes. The focus lies in particular on their involvement of different locations and participants within the game play. Early conceptual prototypes have been "playtested" by a group of patients and their doctors from the Diabetes centre at the Olgahospital in Stuttgart, Germany. The participants´ comments, presented in this article, point to several design challenges of mobile health games: Various locations, it is argued here, do not only implicate technological challenges, but also reveal social issues regarding interactive design.