Virtual pet leads to increase physical activity for kids, research says

Placing children into a mixed reality -- part virtual environment and part real world -- has great potential for increasing their physical activity and decreasing their risk of obesity, according to researchers. Children were split into two groups but only one group was allowed to train, exercise and play with an obese, virtual dog. Researchers found the group of children allowed to interact with the virtual pet averaged 1.09 hours of additional physical activity per day when compared to the gro...