There’s a new Pokémon game out today. No, not the Isle of Armor expansion for Pokémon Sword and Shield (although that’s also available today). It’s called Pokémon Smile, and it’s an Augmented Reality (AR) toothbrushing game designed to encourage kids to brush their teeth better.
Pokémon Smile is a new, free app available now in Apple’s App Store and the Google Play marketplace that aims at improving a child’s tooth-brushing activity. It uses an iPhone or Android device’s camera to analyse how the player is brushing their teeth and displays “bacteria” over their faces. As they continue to brush, they’ll kill the bacteria and save Pokémon.
Pokémon Smile will feature more than 100 Pokémon to rescue and children can collect Pokémon Caps the more they brush. The app will also let parents set reminders and timers, so kids will know when to brush their teeth and for how long. It also features advice on how to effectively brush teeth.
Pokémon Smile can notify parents no more than three times a day, reminding them that it’s time for children to brush their teeth. They can also set the duration of each brushing session from one to three minutes, based on the different needs of children of different ages. The application is filled with elements that encourage the player to continue playing the game with the intention of gradually developing the habit of brushing his teeth. According to the developers, the players will come back to catch more than a hundred species of Pokemon and collect as many funny decorative hats in the application.
This is not the first useful app from The Pokémon Company. In May 2019, a similar health-improving game called Pokémon Sleep was announced, which according to its authors, “turned a healthy sleep into entertainment.”
The company didn't elaborate on how this data would be used in gameplay, and the app still hasn't been released suggesting The Pokémon Company might still be unsure itself.
