Team Name

B&C

Team Members

Project Description

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The Problem:

According to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, almost two-thirds of Australian adults are overweight, and less than half get the recommended 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity on most days (AIHW). Furthermore, over 40% of Australians do not feel connected to their community (NAB’s Q1 2016 Wellbeing Index).

Our Goal:

To make Australians healthier, more active, and more connected to their local community.

How?:

MyCity is a gamified augmented-reality mobile application that offers incentives for people to be active and involved in their local community. The user is given points for travelling to a point-of-interest and playing short interactive Augmented-Reality games. The aim is to compete with friends in teams to get the most points and top the leader-boards. MyCity is designed to promote exploration and a connection to the community.
MyCity can also accurately track the health of users and compare their health to data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This allows the user to accurately see how their health compares to national and local averages, as well as across different population groups. For example, the user can see how their health ranks against other indigenous women in the local area.
Making users aware of how their health compares to others is an essential tool in ensuring communities are healthy and strong.

“Those who feel more connected within their local communities typically have higher levels of personal wellbeing.” – NAB Group Chief Economist, NAB’s Q1 2016 Wellbeing Index.

Data Story

Project MyCity is dependent on open government data. Geospatial data from the Australian Capital Territory is used extensively. This includes aerial imagery and points-of-interest such as the locations of fitness sites and public sculptures and art. The aim of MyCity is to promote exploration and physical activity in the user’s local area, which will increase their overall health. This is done by offering incentives to the user for visiting and interacting with the points-of-interest.
While the user is using the MyCity app, data is gathered about their fitness activity. This data, combined with the user’s personal info, is then compared to open data provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. This allows the user to accurately see how their health compares to national and local averages, as well as across different population groups. For example, the user can see how their health ranks against other indigenous women in the local area.
This project is a demo which uses geospatial data from the Australian Capital Territory only. However, with the increasing availability of open-government data, MyCity can easily be expanded to include a wider range of data from more areas across Australia.
Open government data is essential to building healthier and stronger communities.