Chicago Student Game Developers Win Top Prize at Washington D.C. Summit
First Lady Michelle Obama awards students from Tribeca Flashpoint Academy and Northwestern University, developers of groundbreaking new smartphone game, Jungo.
CHICAGO, March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- This weekend, the student game developers of Chicago-based tech start-up JiveHealth are returning from an amazing spring break. But instead of sun burns as souvenirs, they're bringing home $10,000, a ton of expert business advice, and the First Lady's blessing of their new smartphone game aimed at fighting childhood obesity.
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This week, Tribeca Flashpoint Academy students Nathan Wangler and Hailey Schmidt and Northwestern University student Dennis Ai attended the Building a Healthier Future Summit in Washington D.C., where they treated a panel of judges and Mrs. Obama to a demonstration of their new game, Jungo.
"The game is all about augmentation, and it's all about changing childhood [eating] behaviors in small ways," said game designer Wangler. "Some items, like apples, only exist in the real world. To get this upgrade, your child will have to go to the supermarket or refrigerator, find an apple, and take a picture of it. Our game's algorithm digitalizes their photo into a virtual apple which she then is able to upgrade her character with."
Jungo took home first prize, winning business advice from marketing expert Mark Hass (Edelman US), business strategist Vivian Riefberg (McKinsey & Company), and entrepreneur Steve Krein (StartUp Health); plus $10,000 to help them get their new business off the ground.
"To have this opportunity is more than I could have ever asked for," said Schmidt, the game's artist. "To work on something that I actually really wanted to work on from the start of even considering to be a game artist is absolutely incredible."
About Tribeca Flashpoint Academy
A venture with Robert De Niro's Tribeca Enterprises, Tribeca Flashpoint Academy is one of the nation's most well-respected digital and media arts colleges—offering a progressive training model that erases the boundaries between education and the professional world by exposing students to real-world, industry experiences and state-of-the-art software and equipment beginning their first semester on campus.
About JiveHealth
JiveHealth is designing games (for iOS, Android, and Windows) to engage kids and help them build healthy eating habits through experiential learning. Their first game will be released in summer 2013.
SOURCE Tribeca Flashpoint Academy
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