Scope Definition

Based on some preliminary observations, we discovered that many people are faced with problems such as a lack of motivation and guidance with outdoor running. For the scope of this project, we aim to improve the outdoor running experience through the use of ubiquitous computing. Our target audience is people who are trying to build or maintain a habit of running outside. The majority of them are between the age of 15-40 and use mobile or wearable technology. For the scope of the environment, We decided to focus on urban areas and running trails where people tend to go for a run in their daily lives. From some preliminary observations, we decided to look further into specific activities including running, stretching, and interacting with other runners.

Motivation and Preliminary Observations

Motivation

It’s essential to maintain a regular exercise routine to stay healthy, but it’s always a tough task to stick with the habit or even getting started, especially for young professionals who are overwhelmed by screens. They would choose other means of entertainment, such as playing video games to relieve their stress at work rather than going outdoors and get some fresh air. The reason we want to specifically focus on outdoor running is because we believe going outside will allow greater chance for the users to feel connected with other people and this world as an individual. Our goal is to help people realize the pleasure of running and build running habits by providing an immersive and fun experience.

Observation 1 : People are disconnected from each other:

• While walking/exercising, most people wear masks and avoid physical contact due to happening pandemic. Because their faces are covered by masks, they are unmotivated to say hello or even smile to each other.
• Most people tended to focus more on their cell phone while walking/running alone, isolating themselves from others.

Design Insight 1：

• How might we help people interact with each other safely under the ongoing pandemic?

Observation 2 : People are unmotivated to go outside

• There are fewer people on the road compared to pre-COVID. According to some online research on Medium [1], there are 4 common reasons that trigger runners to stop running including reluctance to run alone, feeling lazy and unmotivated to go outside, getting scared to run outside, and being surrounded by the crowd. As a result, there tends to be an increase in mental health problems derived from stopping exercises [2,3].

Design Insights 2：

• How might we help people interact with each other safely under the ongoing pandemic?

Observation 3 : City and Suburb

• We observed that most people usually run around parks, trails, and streets around the central campus. But there were fewer people running across other county parks and natural reserve areas.
• During summer hours, especially weekends, Ann Arbor is usually surrounded by a large number of people who gather together to eat and relax with their friends and families. Although they were following social distancing rules (sitting outside with tables that were 6 feet apart), they were still at risk of getting affected.
  

Design Insight 3 :

• How might we motivate users to maintain their running habits?
  
• How might we incentivize them to keep up with their exercising routine？ 
  

Ideation Process

We approached our ideation process from two directions: existing problems and feasible interactions. We discovered problems through individual observations. We gathered together to discuss our observing findings, merge similar findings, and explore the fundamental reasons behind the problems. We collected interaction examples from the internet to ensure the feasibility of techniques. Then we collectively brainstormed interaction techniques including audio feedback, gamification, social interaction, health data, generative art. That left us a pool of cool and feasible interaction techniques to pick from. After we gathered all the ingredients, we started generating solutions individually. We got inspiration from our techniques pool and made sure that our solution echoes the problems stressed in the observation part. Finally, we gathered together to polish our concept and came up with three major ones.

Concept Proposals

Concept 1 : Shoe Insoles

A social running concept that allows runners to share routes through remote social interaction. The system consists of smart shoe insoles, Airpods, Apple watch, and NFC stickers. Shoe insoles and NFC stickers are combined to make the interaction pervasive and contextual-aware. Airpods and Apple watch are optional peripherals used to provide visual and auditory feedback.
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Runners can create their own route by putting NFC stickers in their running route and share it through the apple watch app. When other runners run across NFC stickers, they can simply put their shoe close the sticker to sense the checkpoint. By doing this, they can unlock routes shared by other people, get coins and badges so they can exchange for more NFC stickers. The smart shoe mat also allows runners to greet each other with social distancing.

Concept 2 : Smart Kiosk for Runners

Placed at the beginning, the midpoint, and the end of a running route, the kiosk enables runners to do a check-in at places and keep track of their runs by scanning a code or simply using a face ID. Users can collect points with each check-in and get rewards with their points, including coupons offered by local businesses, customized postcards with their running records or check-in photos, etc. When people check in at the kiosk, there will be stretching guides displayed for them to follow. Think of it as playing Just Dance on Switch but with a camera on the kiosk to identify whether players are following the tutorial correctly. Users can stretch by themselves or invite others to stretch together and get reward points based on a ranking.

Concept 3 : Smart Mask

The smart mask is designed for runners who wish to enjoy their running trip safely during covid-19 without losing interactions with others. The mask comes with micro speakers on both sides to allow users to listen to their favorite music while running, and also switches music within users’ playlist based on their breathing frequency to match with their running pace. This allows users to enjoy soothing music while walking and energetic music while running without having to switch music by themselves. When two runners pass each other and listen to identical songs, the mask will detect it and play a “Ding” sound as feedback to inform the runners that “hey, you guys are listening to the same music”. This might give a chance for runners to feel connected with one another. Another function of the mask is to detect the smile of users and reflect it on the mask. This allows users to safely and actively greet each other with their mask on.