One of modern society’s new concerns is overweight, under-exercised children spending all their time in front of the TV, game console or home computer. SPARC, the NZ government agency charged with addressing this problem, engaged interactive media studio Click Suite to create an innovative interactive social networking website for kids, as part of a broad multi-faceted programme called Mission On. The idea is to get children enthusiastic about doing real exercise and eating well. Using the online equivalent of collecting stars on the fridge, children earn points for undertaking physical activities and healthy eating. Points are currency to spend on customising the child’s personalised web pages. The programme is kept fresh with popular celebrities demonstrating and encouraging new activities. And for parental peace of mind, there are heaps of safeguards and moderation.
The Mission On website has just gone live, so it’s too early to say if it will achieve its objectives. However the pre-launch pilot school and its children have been very enthusiastic users, and have already begun to see positive results. This is an innovative way of using the social power of the web to help solve a modern problem, and of course is a great showcase of Click Suite’s savvy interactive media design skills.
Postscript: Yes I know it’s counter intuitive - a website to encourage exercise - so I suggest you get your kids or grandkids to give it a go, and see for yourselves.
Disclosure: I’m non-executive chairman of Click Suite.
Click Suite, the interactive media company of which I’m non-executive chairman, has been experimenting with a weblog, to share ideas, innovations and other cool stuff related to interactive media. They piloted it internally for several weeks, but have now gone public, and you can read it on their web site. If you’re interested in interactive media, you’ll enjoy what the Click Suite team has to say.