How a Video Game Helps Treat Depression and Mental Decline

Sarah Shizuko Morimoto’s Neurogrow is a gardening video game designed to increase and improve neural circuitry. For those with geriatric depression or mental decline, the game crucially targets the brain to better respond to anti-depressants. It does so through a series of repetitive memorization and timing exercises—like watering a specific color flower with a corresponding watering can—to activate the brain. According to Pam Stevens, a …

SingleCut Beer Launches in Japan With Gamified Cans

Celebrating US songs that were popular in Japan and SingleCut’s launch in Tokyo, the brand’s new tropical and dense IPA (aptly named “Big In Japan”) features four different can variations—all with their own cartoonish QR code. The codes are comprised of motifs that act as hints to a song title and, when they’re scanned, they prompt Spotify to open and play the track—ultimately revealing whether …

Cryptocurrency Piggy Bank for Kids, Pigzbe

A piggy bank for the digital age, Pigzbe is an app used to teach children aged six and over about cryptocurrency—while storing it and allowing for plenty of transactions. Pigzbe founders see it as a way to reward children for chores and offer them pocket money, all with a blockchain-enabled currency called Wollo. And while the jury is still out on the future of cryptocurrency, …