gamified

Big moves ahead for Kahoot, the Oslo startup that’s built a popular platform for users to create, share and play education-focused “games”, played by billions of students and adults over the years. The company has announced that it is going fully private in an all-cash PE deal at 35 NOK per share, valuing Kahoot at $1.7 billion (17.2 billion Norwegian kroner) based on 492,836,049 shares issued and outstanding. The private equity division of Goldman Sachs Assets Management is leading the acquisition, with existing…

Peloton is continuing to gamify its hardware lineup with the launch of Lanebreak Tread, a software experience for its beleaguered line of treadmills. The software suite looks similar to pre-existing racing experiences for the company’s exercise bike line, and Lanebreak for Peloton cycles is a well-regarded bit of gamification, so the bona-fides are solid. Lanebreak Tread is getting a global launch, with availability for all Peloton Tread members. Peloton says the gameplay involves users matching and sustaining a pre-set…

Not to be confused with a social fitness meetup app, a running route app, and also a walking competition app that each share the same name, Stride is a clever exercise encouragement app that uses gamification to get you outside.Based around an addictive territory-capturing game, while most run tracking apps look to push you towards setting personal bests, Stride instead encourages an arguably more valuable target – consistency.Once you’ve gone through a quick setup process, you’re provided with a map of your locale…

Whenever I go for a walk, whether it’s to grab a coffee or a proper hike, I annoy the hell out of my family by playing Pikmin Bloom incessantly. No matter how picturesque the view is around me, I spend plenty of time staring at my phone, making sure I’m planting flowers efficiently and helping fresh new pikmin grow. It’s a game that you play by walking; more steps mean more flowers and pikmin, so it’s at least encouraging me to move around. But it’s also a prime example of how video games have infiltrated nearly every…

Home fitness had a huge moment at the outset of the pandemic — and understandably so. People were stuck at home, gyms closed and suddenly workout options seemed to dramatically decrease. As with the teleconferencing revolution, plenty of startups were waiting in the wings to pounce on the sudden opportunity. As predicted, when the world got back to a state of relative normality, interest in some of the offerings waned. I certainly wouldn’t suggest that gym reopenings were the only source of Peloton’s struggles, but…

The recent cyberattacks involving Uber, Okta, and Twitter have affirmed cybersecurity experts’ worst fears: Phishing remains disturbingly effective and leaves lasting damage when combined with social engineering.  A study conducted by the Swiss public university ETH Zurich found that phishing simulations, a security training method that many companies rely on, is often ineffective. The findings suggest that employees who are prone to clicking on potentially malicious links often do so repeatedly, and that those who…

YuLife originally made a name for itself in its home market of the U.K. for its new approach to the provisioning of life insurance: yes, sell a policy that provides financial security to your people in the event of your death; but do so with a focus on improving the policyholder’s current life with wellness opportunities, and encourage use of that with gamification — a model that not only is aimed at benefitting the policyholders more, but increases engagement on the platform and provides a complementary revenue for…