30/04/2022
SKILLNOID – a bridge between gaming and fitness
After over two years of developing and testing, a new platform named “SKILLNOID” was released on 1st of June, 2021. The platform enables its users to link their daily movement with the video games they playing with, and convert their physical activity into in-game rewards within their favorite video games.
Thanks to the platform:
The users can get even more immersed into their video game while simultaneously maintaining or even improving their physical health. Thanks to SKILLNOID doing sports or any activity can become more fun to them and they will be more motivated to keep going knowing that they will get in-game rewards through it. As a result, they can make video games affect their health positively rather than negatively.
Video game developers are getting a useful and effective tool to improve the gaming experience and SKILLNOID help to retain and re-engage with the players in a new way. Our platform will help create a newfound commitment between the games and the gamers. Meanwhile the platform will also help to contradict the popular belief that gaming (and video games in general) cannot be a part of a healthy lifestyle.
By SKILLNOID the fitness industry (including but not limited to the producers of fitness apps, activity tracking devices, smart watches, fitbits, etc) will get access to the gaming market – which is valued 180 billion USD/year with almost 2.5 billion consumers – and thanks to our system they will also gain new users for their products and services.
SKILLNOID – purpose and possibilities.
SKILLNOID can greatly contribute to making video game players physically active. The in-game reward system motivates them to do physical exercise and even make it a part of their daily routines. As a result, through the process of gamifying physical exercise, the gamers will be more inclined to maintain and improve their physical health. This is vital for gamers in each age group:
Among adolescents (young gamers) the lack of movement is becoming more and more common, together with obesity and other illnesses accompanying it.
The lifestyle of the adult players is significantly more sedentary due to their office or other sitting jobs. This means that the amount of time to allocate to physical exercise is decreasing, which in turn leads to health issues deriving from the lack of physical activity. Moreover, they have lots of workplace and private responsibilities, so gaming (as a hobby) is hard to tone in with active lifestyle, because until now these two activities contradicted each other.
Lastly, among elderly gamers (the age group that is currently facing the highest increase in the amount of players) maintain the right amount of movement and activity is critical for their mental and physical health.
SKILLNOID plays a crucial role in bridging exercise and gaming in case of all age groups – and it does it in such a way that even as the users only do as much as run their normal daily errands, they are still getting rewarded for it with bonuses and in-game rewards. They are therefore subconsciously getting motivated to exercise.
Of course, the currently ongoing COVID-19 pandemic puts it all in a different perspective. Due to the pandemic-related restrictions and lockdowns, everyone’s mental and physical health is declining. This is especially prominent in the case of children and teenagers, as due to the lockdowns they had to become significantly less physically active, which in turn resulted in spending more time in front of a screen (be it because of online classes or video games). For this reason, research shows that the current generation of kids is likely the least fit and is also spending less time hanging out with friends outside.
Once the pandemic is over, it goes without saying that old habits will die hard – it will be quite a challenge to go back to the life as we (used to) know it. This means that playing video games as a hobby will not disappear. Therefore, it is especially important that the children (and teenagers) get motivated to exercise in all possible ways – even through playing video games. And SKILLNOID will help in achieving just that.
A short introduction of SKILLNOID
SKILLNOID does not require a special video game to work – it can be integrated with any game that is under development or already existing, regardless of its plot or genre. Bonuses and in-game rewards (available to be obtained via using SKILLNOID) could be create and made in every game – be it through a sport, a logical, an RPG, or any other game type.
SKILLNOID is platform and device agnostic. It does not matter what the player uses (PC, game console, mobile device or even a cloud-based gaming system), SKILLNOID can be used on all of the above. The system is not even connected to any particular game development studio or any particular company. So, it treats all the games, gamers, and fitness partners equally.
The usage of SKILLNOID does not require much effort from the gamer. Everyone can use it, regardless of their age, gender, or the amount of physical exercise that one does. However, if a user is highly active or performs a sport regularly, he or she will obtain the rewards and bonuses quicker. But not to worry – these can be obtained even via simply performing the daily routine or running errands as well. For SKILLNOID every step counts. So even little things such as choosing stairs over the elevator or walking to school or work can get you the in-game rewards that you are after.
For the system to work, it needs the user’s activity logs. But again, not to worry – SKILLNOID can be synced with external solutions (these include but are not limited to fitbits, smart watches, step counters and fitness and health tracking apps that the player is already using or which are installed on mobile devices by default). If the user does not utilize any of these, it is also enough if their keep their phone with them when being active – like take a walk with the mobile phone in the pocket.
It is important to note that SKILLNOID only tracks the user’s fitness data (the step count, burned calorie count, etc.). By no means does it track the location of the user or the route that the user takes. GPS data and the user’s usual path or routine are not tracked or recorded.
Using SKILLNOID is simple. The player only needs a mobile phone to which the SKILLNOID app can be installed. Then the games need to be connected with SKILLNOID via scanning the QR code (generated within the games) with the mobile phone camera. This is a one-time action, and from then on, the game is already connected and the system is ready to work. Within the app, the user can check which rewards are available in which game. Once he or she selects one of them, it is then set as the actual goal (target) and the system starts aggregating the movement data for that specific reward. The user can also check at any time how much more physical activity he or she needs to perform to achieve the target. The amount of exercise differs per reward. There are ones that require only 30 minutes of walking but there are also ones that require days of exercise. However, for SKILLNOID every step counts so everyone can obtain any of the rewards – some may need more time than others to get there, e.g., if one performs an intensive sport such as basketball or cycling rather than simply walking, they will get the reward sooner.
Once enough activity has been collected, the user gets a notification on their mobile phone. Upon logging into them game the reward automatically becomes available to the user and it can be utilized right away. Some of the rewards can be collected multiple times and the player is also able to use multiple rewards at once. Once the previous target is met, SKILLNOID automatically selects the next one, unless the user sets the next target manually.
SKILLNOID slogans and messages
Every step counts – earn loot and stay fit;
Improve your wellness together with your in-game capabilities;
Make exercise fun;
Fit for games, fit for exercise
Fit in excercise, strong in games
Try SKILLNOID
The DEMO version of SKILLNOID can already be installed and tried by anyone.
Where to find the SKILLNOID app:
On the SKILLNOID website (www.skillnoid.com);
In the Google Play store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hu.grepton.skillgate.mobile.prod).
To demonstrate exactly how SKILLNOID works, two games had been implemented for our system. With these games the full functionality of SKILLNOID can be tested.
The „Neon Wings: Air Race” is an exciting air race (available on PC), which could be downloaded from the following places:
Where to find the Neon Wings: Air Race game:
While „Thief Piggies” is a funny shooter game (available on mobile devices), which could be installed from here:
In the Google Play store (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.catmoonproductions.thiefpiggies)
Background Information
SKILLNOID is the idea and property of four Hungarian individuals. The development was made by Grepton Informatika Zrt (www.grepton.hu). The solution runs on the MS Azure cloud. The SKILLNOID app is currently available on devices with the Android operating system (Demo version) but the IOS version is already under development. The additional features as well as the integration with other games is also in progress.
Find out more at:
Phone number: +36 30 274 1241
Email address: support@skillnoid.com
Website: www.skillnoid.com