Anyone who tries to slim down or become more muscular finds out eventually that there are no instant results. That stronger, leaner body happens so gradually, it can be easy to do too little training or stop working out altogether. Unless your buddies have similar goals and share the slog with you.
In February last year, four UJ students started building an app for people who battle to keep their gym routines going by themselves, but who would enjoy some friendly rivalry with friends to see who gets fitter faster.
They built a complete information system that included a web app and mobile app.
Fitness battles
All four work out regularly. Ryan Nair, Stefan Cronje, Ryno Strydom and Karabo Moroe came up with the concept of a social app, where you can compare your workout stats to those of your friends. While they developed the software for it, they used the app to keep track of their own fitness improvements.
By November last year they’d made through to the 13 teams shortlisted by UJ. Then Microsoft selected them and four other UJ teams to compete in the finals of the South African leg of the global
Microsoft Imagine Cup. All South African universities compete in the cup, with 12 teams selected for the finals.
Tough judges
“On Monday 30 March they had a grueling day of presenting their app to the panel of judges,” says Mr Frans Blauw, who coordinated the UJ teams for the Cup.
“The judges came from the software engineering industry. Microsoft, the CSIR and the International Labour Organisation were represented this year.
“Team Dynamic Overload received the prestigious Innovation award for their interactive and immersive physical development system (HexaFit), which flexes the boundaries of personal fitness via gamification,” says Blauw.
Dynamic Overload will now continue to the regional online leg of the main Imagine Cup competition. They will represent the UJ and South Africa among other winners from Africa and the Middle East in May 2015.
