Research company Posit Science Corporation has teamed up with US insurance giant Allstate to see if playing games helps keep our brains young. (Like we need research to figure that one out!) 100,000 Allstate customers in Pennsylannia are taking part in the project,
It’s a jungle on the road out there, and like so many people, Steve Kramer, a 57-year-old financial adviser from Langhorne, Pa., worries how he’ll keep up behind the wheel as he gets older.
Kramer and his wife, Donna, agreed to take part in an experiment: playing a computer game. The software, made by Posit Science, is called an “exercise for the brain.”
“At first I thought, ‘ha-ha, just another game. But it became challenging to where you wanted to do it,” Donna Kramer said.
Allstate Insurance is now offering the game as a free trial to 100,000 Pennsylvania customers whose accident rates will be compared with a group of drivers not playing the games to see if it helps their reflexes and peripheral vision.
“There are a group of people, [ages] 50 to 75, that could benefit from some brain exercise, improve their driving skills, improve their attention, improve their visual skills,” said John Kane, regional distribution leader at Allstate Insurance Co.
If it proves successful, the company hopes to expand its pilot program into other states, or even lower premiums for frequent players.
“This might be an opportunity where we can offer a discount to someone based on the fact that they have taken the program and improved their driving skills,” Kane said.
You can try out one of the games – Jewel Diver. (sign in required)
