The final episode of New Media Update, to watch them all check out our website.

Wouldn't it be cool if we could create a mobile game to fight childhood obesity?

Our game, Tugg, utilizes a blend of mobile heart monitoring technology and social gaming to pit teams of kids against each other in virtual games of tug-o-war. The only way for kids to win is by literally raising their heart rate, thereby reducing the risk for and effects of childhood obesity in a fun, competitive social game.

Check out the video we made to explain why this project is important, and to introduce the concept of a health-oriented, social game called Tugg:

We have created a promotype of Tugg to show how this health-oriented game could potentially work, all the way from the back end of the technology to the student’s hearts.  Our Tugg promotype utilizes a hand-held heart monitor from Vernier that’s as easy to use as holding on to the handles of a jumprope.  After signing up on http://heartygames.mynmi.net, the student simply plugs in the kid-friendly heart monitor to her home computer and starts dancing, jumping, hoola-hooping, or exercising in any way she wants.  After 30 minutes of a healthy elevated heart rate, the student’s session on Tugg is complete and she sees the progress of her team or class so far.  If the student’s class is winning, she will see a visualization of a tug-of-war rope moving one step closer to victory.  At the end of the week, the class with the most 30-minute sessions completed will win!  At the end of the round-robin style tournament within her school, the class with the most overall wins is the champion and moves on to represent the school in a state-wide single elimination tournament.  Little did they know, but while the students were competing with one another to win the tournament, every elevated heart beat moved them one step further from hypertension, diabetes, high blood pressure, and a number of other health risks that accompany childhood obesity.

The Mobile Media Movement is a group of students from the University of Georgia who are working with the New Media Institute to show the world the importance of the mobile device for media, advertising, and public good. Our motto is Personal Media | Public Good, and we intend to produce quality media for the small, portable screen.

I was honored to be named a Mobile Media Scholar for my second year in the New Media Institute.  Along with 3 other scholars, I created a now-patented technology called ALPS:  the Assisted Living Picture Service.  Designed to be used in assisted living homes, we built a digital picture frame from scratch with a screen large enough to see from a good distance away.  But we didn't stop there.  Using RFID tags, we modified our digital picture frame so that Grandma or Grandpa wearing a small RFID bracelet could swipe the tag in front of the frame, and up-to-date pictures of his or her friends and family would display in a slideshow for a short time.  But we still weren't through!  We then implemented a system for grandchildren and parents to send grandparents photos via email, cell phone MMS, or upload to a photosharing site in the cloud.  That way every time Grandma swipes her bracelet, brand new pictures of the grandchildren pop up in the slideshow!  Not only did I learn a great deal about actually creating technology as a Mobile Media Scholar, but I had the opportunity to work with incredibly intelligent students from the NMI achieve an even greater involvement in the program.

For my capstone project in my undergraduate work with the New Media Institute, a fantastic team of seniors and I executed a hugely successful event in Atlanta.  The AIDS Personal Public Service Announcement (AIDS PPSA) project is exploring ways to use the cell phone to battle AIDS. Over two days in April in Atlanta, people from eight universities and five advocacy groups came together to create messages to be distributed to cell phones encouraging young people to be tested for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Because these messages were created for the most personal medium, the cell phone, we call them Personal Public Service Announcements (PPSAs).

On the morning of April 24, the five student teams were given their mobile production studio consisting of a Nokia N95 cellphone, an Apple laptop, and Verizon's BroadBand Access high speed internet service. Students used the N95 to capture audio and video to be transmitted via Verizon's network to the producer back at the event hotel. Each team had seven hours to complete their production and return to the hotel. The producers then had until 6P to complete the editing and post-production work on the PPSAs. At 7P, all 22 PPSAs were debuted.

After the event, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed all the videos for accuracy, responsibility, and approach. Eight of the 22 videos were cleared for national distribution.

Watch the Approved AIDS PPSAs

In conjunction with National HIV Testing Day, Verizon Wireless will create a channel on its VCast mobile video network called "Take Control -- Take the Test." This is the first time that a US carrier has dedicated use of its mobile video network for a public information campaign. The VCast channel will run from June 20 to July 20, 2008.

The CDC has also created a YouTube channel for the AIDS PPSA project.

Also, feel free to check out the documentary video about the project.

On Saturday, 4/25/2009 at UGA, I helped run one of the most fascinating conferences of the year.  The goal was to develop strategies for how to thrive after the downturn. As Dr. Shamp, director of the NMI, put it, "Technology for the Turnaround will give us the technowledge to get ahead in the brave new media world that is just around the corner."

The day was full of discussion, debate, and demonstrations. Industry leaders were abound, and I was in charge of doing everything from behind-the-scenes organization to presenting topics in the discussion.  Not only was it an extremely successful conference, but I had the opportunity to meet some of the top innovators in the emerging field of new media.

Second Life – Hospitality Highway in a Virtual World
APPSA Atlanta – AIDS Personal Public Service Announcements

14 And Change – the arranging, recording, and release of an album
Website development and implementation – http://ugaaccidentals.com/
ICCA – International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella

Though I've been practicing web development since I was in middle school, in 2008 I began to design and develop websites for people, both for pay and for experience.  I decided to create a home for my web development 'business' called Dorton Design.  Simply visit dortondesign.com to see a few examples of the work I've done, but keep in mind the fact that the site is really just for looks and not for a full-fledged business.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization for hitachiconsulting.com
Marketing Materials – creative design of brochures, logos, etc.
Database Management – CRM database input

Website maintenance – Flash, PHP
Database Management and Mining – QuickBase database application creation

Backtab Media
New Media Update
Level84 – a short film by Zack Goulet
Campus Moviefest – “In The Air Tonight” (Best Picture, Audience Choice Award)