1.
Socialcise
A
mobile
game
focused
on
community,
enhancing
the
quality
of
life,
and
generating
quality,
real-­‐world
datasets.
Developed
by
Zach
Cowell

2. Application
Description
The
proposed
application,
Socialcise,
will
be
a
game
that
utilizes
real-­‐time
user
data
to
set
and
track
goals
and
unlock
“achievements”
and
“levels”
through
performing
certain
tasks.
This
will
immerse
the
player
in
a
virtualized
environment
where
they
can
track
a
variety
of
real-­‐world
data
and
progress
set
out
by
their
goals.
The
underlying
theme
of
Socialcise
is
a
unique
social
networking
game
that
brings
in
quality
data
from
regions
all
over
the
nation
as
well
as
enhancing
the
community
through
intuitive
features.
The
application
will
rely
heavily
on
user-­‐supplied
data.
Upon
creating
an
account,
the
player
will
be
prompted
with
a
brief
survey
to
determine
what
types
of
data
will
be
tracked
and
determine
the
player’s
goals.
It
will
be
a
wide
array
of
questions
but
brief
enough
that
they
will
not
hinder
the
user
from
using
the
application
in
minutes.
Some
sample
questions
include:
1. Do
you
smoke
and
do
you
want
to
quit?
2. Are
you
looking
to
lose
weight?
3. Do
you
want
to
eat
healthier?
4. Do
you
want
to
run/jog/bike
more?
5. Do
you
want
to
participate
in
more
sports?
Depending
on
the
player’s
responses,
the
game
will
begin
to
set
up
the
relevant
data
to
track.
For
instance,
if
the
player
wishes
to
eat
healthier,
a
series
of
challenges
will
unlock
to
help
obtain
that
goal,
such
as
listing
off
healthy
foods
to
eat
in
any
given
day.
The
player
can
check-­‐off
these
foods
as
they
eat
them
and
earn
in-­‐game
rewards
for
doing
so.
Each
challenge
will
reward
points,
and
after
enough
points
the
player
will
proceed
to
the
next
“level”
which
contains
additional
challenges
and
rewards.
The
rewards
will
include
a
variety
of
different
items.
For
one,
the
user
will
unlock
achievements
for
performing
certain
tasks
on
a
daily
basis.
• Example
challenge:
Do
not
eat
fast
food
for
7
straight
days.
Achievement:
“I’m
Not
Lovin’
It”
Some
achievements
will
also
have
multiple
tiers
by
performing
the
same
task
for
even
longer.
For
performing
the
above
achievement
for
a
month
or
longer,
the
user
will
be
rewarded
with
the
anti-­‐fast-­‐food
badge
(prototype
graphic):
Badges
can
be
displayed
on
the
player’s
profile
so
that
other
individuals
can
view
them.
Players
can
also
team
up
to
complete
certain
tasks
together
and
provide
encouragement
to
one
another.
In
addition,
other
tasks
will
require
teamwork
and
cannot
be
completed
on
their
own;
this
will
encourage
players
to
work
together
to
unlock
exclusive
team
rewards
(e.g.,
go
for
a
group
jog/bike
ride).

3. The
purpose
of
the
“levels”
in
the
game
are
to
show
a
sense
of
achievement
and
help
guide
the
player
to
a
healthier
lifestyle.
Through
input
from
the
community,
the
users
can
then
deem
what
levels
may
be
necessary
for
completing
challenging
feats.
For
instance,
players
can
recommend
to
other
players
that
a
certain
level
in
exercise
may
be
required
to
build
enough
stamina
to
compete
in
a
5K
run.
An
exchange
of
health
information
in
the
community
will
continue
to
refine
these
suggestions.
The
early
focus
of
the
application
health
categories
will
be
areas
where
users
will
have
the
most
potential
to
make
a
life
change.
These
categories
will
include
exercising
more,
eating
healthy
(with
some
opportunity
to
learn
to
cook
healthy
dishes),
quitting
smoking/smoking
less,
and
drinking
less
alcohol.
These
categories
will
also
have
direct
influence
over
meta
goals;
for
instance,
exercising
often
and
eating
healthy
can
help
obtain
goals
that
players
set
to
lose
weight.
Once
these
primary
objectives
are
set
and
standardized,
the
application
will
begin
to
branch
out
to
capture
other
objectives
that
some
players
could
benefit
from,
such
as
managing
diabetes
or
mental
illnesses/disorders
such
as
ADHD.
Each
player
will
also
have
a
“stat
page”
which
will
show
relevant
statistics
to
their
goals.
These
statistics
will
be
dependent
on
what
categories
that
the
user
opted
for
(e.g.,
a
player
who
has
a
weight
loss
goal
will
see
their
weight
in
the
stat
page
that
can
update
it
accordingly).
When
a
user
updates
a
stat,
they
can
track
their
progress
in
real-­‐time
through
various
visualization
features,
such
as
a
line
graph
tracking
their
daily
weight
entered.
Only
the
relevant
stats
will
be
exposed
based
on
the
player’s
preferences;
for
example,
a
user
who
has
never
smoked
and
doesn’t
plan
on
smoking
would
not
see
a
daily
account
of
how
many
cigarettes
they
smoked
vs.
a
user
who
does
smoke
and
is
trying
to
quit
(and
would
benefit
from
seeing
their
daily
estimated
smoking
habits).
Social
Networking
The
application
will
have
significant
social
networking
interaction.
In
addition
to
being
able
to
join
other
players
in
achieving
their
real
life
goals,
there
will
be
integration
with
Facebook
and
Twitter.
Players
will
be
able
to
login
with
Facebook
(which
will
be
the
recommended
login
option)
in
order
sync
data,
such
as
profile
picture
and
age
information.
Players
can
post
their
achievements
and
progress
on
their
Facebook
and
Twitter
accounts
to
gain
support
from
their
friends
and
family,
and
perhaps
be
able
to
expose
Socialcise
to
gain
additional
users.
Within
the
game
itself,
players
will
be
encouraged
to
engage
one
another
for
team
based
rewards
and
point-­‐gain.
If
the
users
participate
in
team-­‐based
activities,
they
will
gain
additional
point
incentives
to
encourage
teamwork
and
group
play.
While
it
is
possible
for
players
to
have
a
fulfilling
experience
playing
with
limited
social
interaction,
it
is
recommended
that
the
players
interact
with
one
another
to
get
the
most
out
of
the
application.

4. Application
Architecture
Socialcise
will
be
a
mobile
application
that
will
be
available
for
iOS
and
Android.
In
addition,
the
application
will
be
available
for
any
mobile
device
with
web
browser
support
with
the
native
applications
being
on
iPhone
and
Android
devices.
The
technology
stack
that
will
make
this
a
possibility
is
as
follows:
• PhoneGap
:
Utilizing
Apache
Cordova,
PhoneGap
provides
the
capability
for
cross
platform
development
with
great
ease.
This
gives
the
front-­‐end
the
ability
to
be
constructed
in
HTML/JavaScript/CSS.
• PHP
with
CodeIgniter:
The
webserver
logic
will
be
built
on
top
of
a
MVC
architecture
within
PHP.
By
building
out
the
server
logic
in
this
fashion,
it
will
be
easy
to
implement
a
future
web
application
interface
for
desktop
machines.
• MySQL:
A
simple
database
architecture
for
tracking
user
supplied
data
as
well
as
performing
data
calculations
on
a
macro
level.
• Third-­‐Party
Libraries:
The
application
will
make
use
of
third-­‐party
open
sourced
libraries
such
as
jQuery
and
other
applicable
plugins.
For
the
data
visualization
portion
of
the
application,
a
mix
of
libraries
including
JQPlot
and
D3.js
will
be
implemented
to
help
display
some
of
the
data.
The
application
user
interface
will
be
built
with
basic
web
development
technologies.
AJAX
calls
will
be
used
to
push
data
to
and
from
the
server.
The
user
experience
will
be
built
with
responsive
components
using
HTML5
and
CSS3.
Once
the
application
user-­‐base
grows
to
a
substantial
level,
the
team
will
implement
a
cloud
based
hosting
solution
through
Amazon
Web
Services
(AWS).
If
the
application
utilizes
bandwidth
beyond
the
“free
tier”
of
AWS,
the
business
model
will
be
revisited
to
help
mitigate
operating
costs.
Data
Generation
The
aspect
that
is
most
exciting
about
Socialcise
is
the
data
generated
by
the
players
and
how
that
data
is
used.
By
storing
the
data
on
a
webserver,
the
data
can
be
analyzed
across
all
regions
and
interpreted.
This
will
create
quality
datasets
that
can
be
exported
and
shared
at
will
while
preserving
the
privacy
of
the
user-­‐base.
By
analyzing
the
data
server-­‐side,
the
application
can
present
users
with
additional
incentives
to
provide
data
in
regions
where
certain
data
is
lacking.
For
example,
if
there
is
a
low
user-­‐base
in
a
state
or
region,
a
player
can
“recruit”
another
player
for
bonus
points
or
badges.
This
feature
will
continue
to
build
onto
a
solid
social
network
for
the
players
to
interact
within.
In
addition
to
pursuing
data
from
all
regions,
Socialcise
will
implement
Robert
Wood
Johnson
Foundation
data
to
encourage
special
rewards
for
those
in
communities
that
fall
in
low-­‐ranking
regions
within
certain
categories.
Some
examples
include:
• Players
pursuing
healthy
foods
in
counties
where
healthy
food
options
are
limited
• Players
avoiding
fast
food
restaurants
in
counties
where
there
are
a
high
number
of
fast
food
restaurants

5. • Players
performing
some
sort
of
exercise
in
counties
where
there
is
high
physical
inactivity
Once
the
data
is
gathered
and
stored
on
the
server,
the
data
can
be
visualized
and
displayed
using
a
third-­‐party
charting
library.
See
the
Application
Architecture
section
for
more
info
on
how
this
data
will
be
output.
In
addition
to
generating
quality
data
across
many
different
health
categories,
the
team
behind
Socialcise
will
strive
to
make
the
data
available
to
the
general
public,
including
third-­‐parties
who
wish
to
improve
healthcare
in
some
way.
Once
enough
data
is
available
and
a
proper
privacy
statement
is
agreed
upon
by
the
end-­‐
user,
the
data
can
be
accessed
through
RESTful
web-­‐services
via
a
simple
to
use
API.
Until
there
is
enough
interest
in
the
application
to
warrant
the
development
of
the
API,
the
team
behind
Socialcise
will
provide
the
data
through
a
written
request
in
the
interim.
The
number
one
priority
for
data
distribution
is
protecting
the
rights
and
privacy
of
the
end
users,
and
once
a
general
agreement
can
be
reached,
the
data
can
be
provided
to
third-­‐parties.
Target
Users
Socialcise
is
an
application
that
will
target
a
wide
array
of
users
that
wish
to
live
a
healthy
lifestyle.
The
user
experience
will
be
simple
enough
to
appeal
to
all
audiences
without
sacrificing
a
robust
feature
set.
Those
who
would
benefit
most
from
the
application
would
be
young
adults
and
adults
who
wish
to
increase
their
healthy
habits.
However,
the
platform
will
be
set
up
such
that
the
younger
players
can
play
the
game
and
compete
to
encourage
healthy
habits
at
a
young
age
in
a
fun
manner.
The
user
experience
will
be
designed
to
get
the
user
up
and
running
in
a
relatively
short
amount
of
time.
After
the
user
has
created
an
account
and
answered
the
introductory
questions,
the
user
will
begin
to
navigate
through
relevant
challenges
to
participate
in
and
get
started
from
day
one.
Marketing
Plan
Socialcise
will
be
a
service
that
will
launch
on
or
before
the
Robert
Wood
Johnson:
Games
to
Generate
Data
Challenge
Phase
2
submission
deadline
on
July
29,
2013.
The
team
behind
Socialcise
plans
on
spending
time
marketing
the
service
on
several
different
fronts.
For
one,
a
portion
of
the
Phase
1
prize
money
will
be
allotted
for
advertisements
through
Facebook
and
Google
AdWords.
In
addition
to
targeting
a
wide
variety
of
demographics,
the
team
plans
to
reach
out
to
various
technology
focused
news
sites
(specifically,
mobile)
with
the
application
in
hopes
of
getting
the
word
out.
The
team
will
also
reach
out
to
health
sites
and
blogs
in
hopes
of
being
featured.

6. As
the
team
is
based
in
Washington,
D.C.,
the
team
will
spend
time
reaching
out
to
the
U.S.
Department
of
Health
and
Human
Services
to
spend
a
little
bit
of
time
talking
about
the
application.
In
addition
to
reaching
out
to
these
organizations,
the
team
is
enthusiastic
about
working
with
the
Robert
Wood
Johnson
Foundation
for
recognizing
a
robust
gaming
application
that
generates
rich
sets
of
data
in
an
intuitive
manner
and
creates
a
fun
environment
for
the
user.
Team
Profile
Zach
Cowell
is
a
software
engineer
with
a
B.S.
in
Computer
Science
from
West
Virginia
University.
He
has
been
employed
in
the
health
industry
as
well
as
government
consulting
and
contracting.
He
is
currently
employed
as
a
consultant
who
specializes
in
designing
and
implementing
web
based
enterprise
solutions
for
various
clients,
including
the
Department
of
Defense
and
various
health
markets.
Zach
Cowell
also
has
a
passion
for
game
design
using
mobile
applications.
He
has
experience
using
cross-­‐platform
development
technologies
including
Corona
SDK
and
PhoneGap.
He
especially
enjoys
creating
applications
utilizing
web
technologies
on
mobile
platforms.
Business
Model
Socialcise
will
be
a
free
service
for
all
to
use
with
no
premium
service
offering.
At
the
time
when
Socialcise
has
a
steady
user-­‐base,
we
are
prepared
to
possibly
introduce
unobtrusive
advertisements
into
the
application
to
possibly
help
offset
operating
costs.
However,
even
after
advertisements
are
introduced,
all
of
the
features
will
be
available
to
the
players
without
any
cost
to
them.
Further,
once
the
user-­‐base
has
expanded
and
the
application
at
a
steady,
secure,
and
optimized
codebase,
the
team
pledges
to
release
the
source
code
for
the
entire
project
so
that
other
developers
can
benefit
from
the
technologies
created
in
Socialcise.
A
particular
open-­‐source
license
has
not
be
determined
at
this
time,
but
one
will
be
chosen
that
most
appropriately
protects
the
team
behind
Socialcise
and
the
third-­‐parties
that
obtain
the
technology.