Inspiration
There has been a significant rise in the access children have to social media and predictive algorithms that have unknown affects on their health and mental wellbeing. Many of the current apps on the market for controlling screen time are aimed at adults for productivity or parents to block access, however, there is a gap for something fun. We aimed to design an app that fosters a positive relationship with technology, giving children the tools to manage their screen time independently.
What it does
In the app, there is Paws the bear, a companion you need to take care off. Depending on screen time, Paws will be fulfilled and happy, neutral, or tired. The aim is to keep Paws happy by limiting screen time to a pre-set amount. The app accesses background user data to determine the screen time of specific apps that the user wants to limit, such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. This also has the potential to be used by parents on their children, to encourage healthy engagement with social media and technology. For sticking to screen time limits, the user is rewarded with a streak, which after 3 days allows them to unlock new hats for Paws and dress them up!
How we built it
Design: Initial prototyping and final design of the sprites was carried out in Procreate.
Animation: For animation of the sprites, Canva was used. A stop animation technique was used to generate the desired movements, with the final animations being outputted as gifs.
App Building: The app was built and developed using Java in Android Studio.
Soundtrack Composition: Music for each mood, as well as the lock screen, was made using Soundation and was self-composed.
Challenges we ran into
Most of the challenges faced revolved around app development. The largest issue was to safely move between activities without breaking things and the app restarting. This was overcome by a large amount of trial and error, however the app now successfully works!
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We managed to achieve all of the aims we set out to do. Also, the design is very harmonious with a clear sense of style despite being carried out by multiple people. We are also proud to be addressing a serious issue with an exiting solution.
What we learned
Our lead developer learnt how to develop apps for Android. Our animator learnt how to animate for the first time and is excited to do more after the project. One of our team member's learnt about hackathons for the first time and is excited to do another one!
What's next for Bear With Me
One future aim for Bear With Me would be to introduce user interactivity with Paws. We would consider introducing the ability to feed Paws and dress them up in the hats the user can unlock. Additionally, we would like to properly design the parental controls page so desired screen times for different apps can be set within the app.
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