Zach James
Dr. Williams
MDIA 1020
28 January 2014
http://www.sixtostart.com/
The
interactivity used by six to start in their app “Zombies, Run! 2” is a very
genius idea. Zombies are a popular concept nowadays, especially with television
shows like The Walking Dead becoming
more and more popular. Instead of being the usual mobile app that just involves
simple tapping and tilting, this app encourages its users to get out and get
active. By immersing its users in a world where zombies are everywhere and they
need to perform various tasks by running certain amounts of miles. It plays
various sounds like missions or zombie hordes, and gives the users maps to see
where they’ve been and need to go. This helps the user immerse themselves in a
whole new experience and makes running feel like it has a purpose. Successful
interactive media should “envelope the user in a rich, fully-involving
environment” (Williams 34) and that is exactly what this application does. The
true benefits of such an interactive and immersive experience come clear when
it is used to promote good health and well-being. The makers of this app were
certainly on to something.
Using some
of the knowledge I gained from discovering “Zombies, Run! 2”, I have created a
new app called “Olympic Runner”. This game focuses on getting people to get out
and run, walk, and be active, only using competition to create inspiration.
When the app is turned on, it records how many miles you’ve traveled. Using the
recorded amount of exercise you get and other health statistics you add
(height, age, gender, eating habits, ect.) it gives you a health rating. All
the other users of the app have their own health rating and exercise records.
Depending on where you are in comparison to other users data on the
leaderboards, you will receive a medal. The user’s goal is to simply be
healthier than everyone else. Each person that has the app can add specific
friends and view their statistics. Double tapping a friend’s stat will add it
to your goals if it is better than yours. This way a user can set them an
objective to work towards. Each time you complete a goal and become healthier
than a friend, they are notified. It’s easy to see where users could take the
competition to a new level. The app will also add goals based on your personal
statistics, so even if one has no friends they can still move towards a goal.
To help immerse our app users into
the story, the tie to the Olympics will need to be strong. Releasing it around
the time of the next summer Olympics would really help the app become noticed
and makes it easy to advertise. Sound recordings will be used in the App. At
the start of a run an announcer will count down and then there is a gunshot
fired to signal recording of data. When goals are completed, the crowd roars
with excitement. At the end of the exercise one can view a map of where they
ran, and see other routes nearby friends have taken. The real story that drives
this app is the one the users create however, through the competition. The
sounds and medals help add to the idea behind it all, but the feelings of
intense rivalry and competitive sport are what the Olympics are really about,
and so is this app.
Works Cited
Williams, Erica, and Beth Novak, eds.
Media and the Creative Process. N.p.: University Readers, 2014. Print.
