Corporation Pop created a new app, to help children with cancer understand what’s happening to them.
Xploro has been 4 years in development and includes games based on the human body, 3D hospital environments and experiences, so they know what’s happening while they’re being treated.
It’s been created in collaboration with Christie Hospital and centres around Proton Beam Therapy.
Agency Managing Director, Dom Raban was inspired to produce the app after seeing how his own daughter received information while she was being treated for a rare bone cancer.
Now cancer free, Issy spent much of the 12 months following her diagnosis, undergoing various treatments including fifteen rounds of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, stem cell treatment and ten weeks of Proton Beam Therapy in Florida. That same treatment is now available at The Christie.
“I was struck by the lack of age-appropriate information that was available for Issy – she was far too old for picture books, but too young for adult information,” he explained.
“Once Issy was on the mend, I realised that I could do something to plug that gap. At Corporation Pop we’ve got a first-class team of app and game designers and developers so it seemed obvious that we put that expertise to good use. After four years of hard work and significant Government funding it’s fantastic to see the app being used by children at one of the hospitals that my daughter was treated at.”
Information on the app is delivered through a chirpy, augmented-reality character that the child creates, and names themselves. It becomes their virtual friend, and leads them through every part of the app.
After trials in Manchester, Xploro will be available for wider use when it will include an artificially intelligent chatbot which can answer any questions the child has about going to hospital.
There are now plans to create versions for other illnesses including diabetes and asthma as well as develop the app for older audiences. By next year Xploro® will also be available in other languages.
