Pali: Tech that brings people together, in the real word
Technology gets a bad write up. Kids, obsessed with screens, are not participating in physical activity to the degree they were - sedentary is the new norm, and the problem is forecast to get worse according to the World Health Organisation. Earlier in the year WHO went as far as to say that children's health was at serious risk due to a "continuous steep increase" in screen usage from 2002 to 2014. Usage by girls 15 years and over tripled in that period. It's a global problem, and yet in the UK it's particularly problematic. Again, focusing on girls, Scotland came top (worst) in a poll of 42 countries, Wales fourth, England seventh.
At Uniform, we've spent the last few years exploring how technology can help, not hinder, the situation. Pokemon Go showed how tech can get kids outside, without asking that they un-glue themselves from their smartphone. Small steps some might say. It answers part of the problem, but not all. It lacks the social element that bonds us together.
Our latest product innovation Pali explores how we can use the positives of the Pokemon Go exercise but tackles some of the issues. We want to bring people together - re-connect groups, communities, of all ages.
As a dad, I've seen the situation a hundred times. You take the kids to the park. They start a kick about and then you remember to organise contacting people, individually, when you're actually playing! It's all too little, too late. Too much of a fuss and more often than not, it doesn't happen.
When using Pali you don’t need to look at your phone, everything happens naturally as if you were just having a normal kickabout with your mates.
You simply detach your Pali goalpost cones, which sends an instant message alert to your friend’s phones letting them know your location and that you’re ready for a game.
Pali's already spiked the interest of some of the media in the UK and the US, and you'll see the story and film in Fastco Design and It's Nice That. Just consider the wider implications, not only beyond football, and but beyond sport, to connect, re-engage and bring folk together.