The purpose of Rainbow Run is to create an interactive, competitive learning system that combines and encourages both physical activity and memory skills. Research has proven a positive correlation between physical activity and memory recollection, and we hoped to combine the two in a way that would make studying more fun!
THE GAME
Purpose
The motivation behind our research was an article published in the Journal of Neuroscience in September of 2005 entitled "Exercise Enhances Learning and Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Aged Mice." The research detailed in this article found that mice who exercised were more successful in navigating a maze that they had previously navigated. Based on this research we incorporated the knowledge that physical activity positively influences learning and memory into the development of Rainbow Run.
Research
Process
We developed Rainbow Run over a 10 week period. We began by determining our purpose, and we developed several project proposals. We then iterated and expanded on our initial ideas to develop several prototypes, before building our final prototype. We then conducted several user studies to test the project, and made several improvements before presenting Rainbow Run at the 2016 Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing Fall Research Symposium.