How a massive Pokémon Twitch streamer inspired ErgoMage

At the height of the pandemic near the end of 2020, while I was finishing my ergonomics specialist certification, I got sick.  To the point where I couldn’t walk the length of my bedroom without feeling exhausted.  This, coupled with me recently working with a patient who just tested positive for COVID-19 in a nursing home, made me terrified I caught the life-threatening disease*.  So, I self-isolated in my bedroom for a week.

And I got bored. Fast.

Since I didn’t have the energy to do anything, even my favorite hobby of gaming, except watch YouTube, I searched for new video game channels to binge-watch, and eventually came across SmallAnt.  I was instantly hooked by his innovative challenges in big Nintendo titles such as Pokémon and Mario, trying to figure out as I watched how he beat my beloved childhood games with self-imposed rules (i.e. damageless) and modifications (i.e. no experience points earned). 

One of the first videos by SmallAnt I watched

After exhausting his YouTube content and seeing that he livestreamed on Twitch, I quickly dusted off my old Twitch account to log in to watch his VODs and catch a stream. Then, while watching one of his Pokémon VODs, I heard him say this:

Clip from twitch.tv/smallant

My reaction was: “of course you’d be tired, you’re sitting in one spot in front of a computer almost every day for hours on end on- and off-stream making content.”

Then I bolted upright and thought: “were there any ergonomic resources or specialists for content creators and gamers out there?” A quick Google search made me realize there was very little reliable information out there, and even fewer medical and ergonomic specialists for them.

It dawned on me that I was in a rather unique position: I’m an occupational therapist specializing in ergonomics who has played video games her entire life, nearly 30 years at this point.  Why not combine my two passions and experiences? I will help bridge that knowledge gap between the gaming realm and the medical sphere; and assist the content creators and artists that I’ve admired throughout the years.    

And that is how I came up with ErgoMage, an ergonomic consultation service and resource for gamers, content creators, editors, animators, and artists.  Thank you to SmallAnt for inspiring this idea and sparking excitement back into my profession!

*It actually, thankfully, ended up not being COVID-19, I just had a really bad flu.  But I didn’t know that at the time.