Gamification in extreme sports

Five   core-board-sports can   be  identified from   105   different action    sports.    The   metric    of  ‘park   objects’    was   selected     as metric    that   was   deemed    most   promising across    all  five  core-board-sports. The   metric    of  ‘park   objects’    essentially entails  who   went   over   what   Park   Object    at  what   time.   Here,   BLE Beacons are very promising.

How Will It Work
A  BLE   Beacon    (placed    on  a  Park   Object)    will   broadcast a signal   that   is  received     by  the  Sensor    (placed    on  the  board   of a  rider)   when   in  broadcasting-range of  the  BLE   Beacon.    The Beacon    and   Sensor    will  communicate defining    the  proximity of  the   Sensor    (thus   participant) to  the   Beacon    (thus   Park Object).     If  the  Sensor    is  within    immediate proximity of  the Beacon,     it  can   be  concluded that   the  participant must   have gone over a Park Object.

Minimal Viable Product (MVP)
The   product-service system    designed here   holds   a  design for   the   Minimal  Viable    Product     (MVP)    of  applying BLE Beacons onto   Park   Objects. The   MVP-case being    to  place BLE   Beacons     onto   Park   Jumps    (with   ‘standard’ dimensions) in wakeparks for wakeboarding.

BLE Beacons
A  Beacon    is  ‘a  low-cost     piece   of  hardware —  small   enough    to attach    to  a  wall   or  counter-top —  that   use   battery-friendly, low-energy Bluetooth connections. The   core   outcome of  this project    is  to  place   BLE Beacons onto Park Objects,     through which multiple core-board-sports can be targeted.

Participant / Rider
In  addition    to  the  identification what   Park   Object    a  participant went   over,   the  Sensor    will  also   keep   its  current    capabilities: measuring jump    height,    jump    airtime,     landing     G-force, and   landing    angle.    Thereby creating     a  package of  ‘jump-data’   which    can   be  capitalized by  using   various    gamification mechanics. The   rider   experience will   go  through     the   User App. Thus, the rider will receive a Sensor and a User App.

Park Manager
The   Park   Manager will   receive    a  (set   of)  Beacon(s) which he  /  she   will  set-up    by  placing    them   on  a  Park   Object.    The data   collected by  the   Beacon(s) will   be  visible    through the   Park   Manager App.   Where    a.o.   the   Park   Activity,    Park Leaderboards, and   number     of  people    going    over   a  Park Object    can   be  shown,    thereby    creating     value   for  the   Park Manager.

Mark van der Horst

Hultink, H.J., Beekman, A.Q.

master thesis, March 2016