Logo for Sesame Workshop featuring a stylized yellow semi-circle above the organization's name in large, gray text, with a green line underneath.

Sesame Street’s Elmo & Cookie Monster Bring Magic to Pediatric Rehab

In partnership with Sesame Workshop—the global impact nonprofit behind Sesame Street, Augment Therapy is including some of TV’s most iconic characters in ARWell PRO, an augmented reality exercise app for healthcare providers and their patients. 

We have been pleased to discover that the presence of Sesame Street friends helps engage and motivate children to complete exercises prescribed by their healthcare providers.

A child standing in a gym with Sesame Street characters Elmo and a frog. The child is raising their right arm.
A red plush toy of Elmo, a character from Sesame Street, sitting with an excited expression, arms outstretched.

Air Writing with Elmo

Write letters, shapes, and numbers in the air with Elmo.

A screenshot of a video game featuring a blue, furry character on pink terrain with candy-like scenery, including gingerbread houses and giant cookies, and a small inset of a person in a blue shirt standing in a room.

Snackland with Cookie Monster

Run in place and raise your arms to help Cookie Monster capture cookies in a field of snacks.

Children playing in a living room with couches and carpet, overlaid with Sesame Street characters Elmo and Oscar the Grouch, and animated temperature and game icons.

Shoulder Abduction with Elmo

Raise and lower your arms to reveal images with Elmo.

A man in a black suit and white shirt smiling with a life-sized Cookie Monster puppet from Sesame Street behind him, holding onto his shoulder.
Blurred gradient background with shades of green, yellow, and blue.

"The Augment Therapy team are incredible partners, and we’re excited to see how Sesame Street characters can impact the world of pediatric rehabilitation. I believe this technology will change the way healthcare providers interact with their patients."

Miles Ludwig, Vice President of Digital Media, Sesame Workshop 

Fozzie Bear puppet from Sesame Street, with blue fuzzy fur, large white eyes, pink nose, and wide open mouth showing black interior.
Gradient background transitioning from blue at the bottom to green at the top.
Close-up of a smiling woman with blonde hair, wearing a black top and a leopard print jacket, standing against a stone wall background.

"We created Augment Therapy to positively impact the healthcare industry and transform physical therapy into a fun and engaging experience. Through our partnership with Sesame Workshop, we have the opportunity to not only provide joyous experiences with beloved Sesame Street characters, but we’re also seeing real change in attitudes toward physical therapy by patients and their providers because of our innovative approach to care." 

Lindsay Watson, CEO and co-Founder Augment Therapy 

When kids are interested and excited by exercise, they are more likely to complete it, and evidence shows they get better faster!

Our research shows that students who were excited to use Augment Therapy were more focused and spent more time on task compared to a traditional therapy session (Baron 2024).

Boosting Engagement in Therapy Matters

A blue plush toy resembling Cookie Monster from Sesame Street, with googly eyes and an open mouth, resting on a surface against a black background.
A child in a wheelchair is in front of a large screen displaying an augmented reality scene featuring Sesame Street characters, including Elmo and a green creature, inside what appears to be a hospital or medical facility.

Projects studying the use of Augment Therapy in various populations and clinical settings are underway. Collaborations include University of California Santa Cruz, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, ALYN Hospital Israel, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Group of six colorful Sesame Street characters in costume, including Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar, Cookie Monster, Abby, and a pink fairy

©2024. Sesame Workshop. All rights reserved. 

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