UKESNC winner 2009
The winner of the UKESNC Competition 2009 was Mudlark with Heartlands: Locative Bio-Sensing Gaming run by Rachel Jacobs, Toby Barnes, Matt Watkins, Charles Hunter.
The thought behind the idea
Heartlands is a mobile locative game that uses your body as a joystick. Your changing heartbeat and exact position on the planet interact with the landscape, soundtrack and other players playing in the same location as you. The innovative technologies involved in this project cross the market sectors of health, gaming and education. Heartlands involves a heart rate monitor and uses GPS tracking as a player walks for 30 minutes outdoors; the current game prototype works on GPS-enabled phones with Bluetooth and GPRS capabilities. Mudlark‘s game platform supports a wide range of locative and mobile sensory games for mobile devices that encourage people to become more active. The Heartlands game and platform merges location tracking with biosensor technology to form a new genre of mobile gaming.
Making games real – playing life.
Innovation
The need to get out more - Heartlands eliminates any need to press buttons; to play on a GPS-enabled mobile phone, all you need to do is connect the heart rate monitor, start the game and walk outdoors.
The health and exercise itch – The game encourages players to explore their environment and take part in discontinuous exercise, all while teaching them more about their own health and fitness as they play.
Target market of the idea
The target market is the 16-30 audience, who will be excited by Heartlands’ pervasive technology and keen to engage in social gaming on the move. Heartlands is people-focused; people can choose to play competitively against each other or participate as they go about their everyday lives. The game is accessible to a wide range of mobile phone users because it is visually and aurally compelling, but does not rely on complex graphics or narrative.
Customer benefit
Heartlands has the potential to attract a wide market across genders, world regions and ages. Heartlands encourages players to explore their environment whilst playing with other people and learning about their bodies based on their heart rate. The game can be played on a smart GPS-enabled mobile phone with the addition of a Bluetooth heart rate monitor.