GetGlue: Check-in to tv, movies and music Social Network for Entertainment Discover what to watch, share what you're watching with friends and fans, and get updates from your favorite shows. 5 Apps That Reward You Just for Using Them It turns out you can be rewarded for watching television, going shopping or buying music from the iTunes store. In fact, you can collect points with the punch of a button on your iPhone or Android smartphone and redeem those points for gift cards, discounts, and gadgets like tablets. How's this possible? Apps, of course. Creators behind apps like Viggle, ShopKick, CheckPoints, and Wikets all find that mobile devices are changing the ways people interact and shop, which is why these companies are jumping on the bandwagon. “You could make the case that mobile will have a greater impact on the way people shop than the Internet did over a decade ago,” says Dave Heinzinger, a CheckPoints spokesperson.
Teemo App Turns Exercising Into A Travel Game Runkeeper and Nike+ are fantastic tools for people who are already exercising as a habit, but how do you get someone who’s inactive off the couch for the first time--how do you make exercising appealing to the undecideds, so to speak? Teemo is a new, free iPhone app by Bonnier R&D and Ammunition that takes short interval exercises and places them in the context of worldwide adventure. It’s designed, not for the athlete or the would-be athelete, but for the masses of the rest of us. “We know there is a large portion of the population that wants to feel fit, but they are stuck in a stressful holding pattern,” Ammunition’s Matt Rolandson tells Co.Design. “Imagine people who keep meaning to join a gym, but don’t.
Cigna Adds Gamification Challenge to Coach Calhoun’s Annual Cancer Ride and Walk: Burn Calories/Burn Cancer BLOOMFIELD, Conn., June 04, 2012 - Global health service company Cigna (NYSE:CI) is launching a new challenge as part of its annual sponsorship of the Jim Calhoun Cancer Challenge Ride and Walk : burn calories for cash to fight cancer. Burn Calories to Burn Cancer: At the June 9, 2012 Calhoun Cancer Challenge, Cigna will provide 50 walkers with Fitbit Trackers to measure their steps, distance walked and calories burned, and then Cigna will match the walkers' total calories burned with a cash contribution of $.50 per calorie. (Photo: Business Wire) The challenge is part of Cigna's “gamification” initiative – using electronic devices and online tools as an engaging, interesting and fun way to help people improve their health. At this year’s Calhoun Cancer Challenge, Cigna will provide 50 walkers with electronic devices to measure their steps, distance walked and calories burned, and then match the walkers’ total calories burned with a cash contribution of $.50 per calorie.
The 'Gamification' of Personal Finance Most consumers know they ought to pay down debt or save for a rainy day. In reality, though, many people don't. "Gamifying" personal finance—that is, using game mechanics to reward positive behavior and educate players about money in a fun format—is one strategy for bridging that gap between what people know they should do and motivating them to actually do it. [See 50 Ways to Improve Your Finances.] "One of the core problems with personal finance is it's about deferred rewards," says Gabe Zichermann, CEO of Gamification Co, which runs a major website and annual event for the burgeoning gamification industry.
Apps for Autism: Using Game Mechanics to Learn and Grow - Gamification Co Imagine for a moment that you had no internal volume control. Everything you saw, heard, and felt was perceived by your brain at equal intensity–from the birds singing outside your window and the dripping of the faucet to the person giving you instructions. Imagine that you were unable to prioritize this information, to sort out the unnecessary or redundant images to focus on the information central to your needs and purposes.
The effectiveness of SPARX, a computerised self help intervention for adolescents seeking help for depression: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial Adolescents suffering from depression can benefit just as much from specialised computer therapy as they do from one-to-one therapy with a clinician, a study published on bmj.com finds. Depression is common in adolescents, but many are reluctant to seek professional help. So researchers from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, set out to assess whether a new innovative computerised cognitive behavioural therapy intervention called SPARX could reduce depressive symptoms as much as usual care can. SPARX is an interactive 3D fantasy game where a single user undertakes a series of challenges to restore balance in a virtual world dominated by GNATs (Gloomy Negative Automatic Thoughts). It contains seven modules designed to be completed over a four to seven week period.
Playmoolah - The Fun Way to Master Your Money Conventional wisdom has it that sales people love competition. They want a challenge, beat their friends and colleagues, and be on top of the leaderboard. And sales managers constantly use carrots and competition, because this is what “motivates" sales agents. But is this true? We know that sales reps have to make money for the company. Depending on the product or service sold, the sales process and effort can vary significantly, from products and services which need a lot of explaining and have long sales cycles, to others that need nearly no explanations and sell quickly.