Wearable Health Data Access Control for Fair App Rewards
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional exercise reward programs often discourage less active individuals as they recognize they cannot win against highly active participants, defeating the purpose of incentivizing healthier lifestyles.
Innovation Solution
A reward system that unlocks application access based on a baseline exercise requirement achievable by all users, with rewards determined by performance in the application rather than initial health status, using health metric data to convert into application tokens for engagement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional exercise reward programs reward based on health metric data (steps walked), then highly active individuals win rewards, but less active individuals are discouraged from participating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the reward determination into two independent components: (1) health metric data used solely to unlock application access, and (2) application performance scores used to determine rewards. This segmentation decouples the winning criterion from initial health status, allowing less active users to compete on equal footing while maintaining engagement incentives.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - a gamified application layer - that translates health metric data into application access tokens. These tokens enable users to engage with applications where performance is measured independently of physical activity levels. The intermediary decouples the relationship between health metrics and reward eligibility, allowing users with diverse health statuses to compete fairly.
2Adaptability or versatility
If reward programs use baseline exercise requirements to unlock application access, then all users can participate, but the ability to win remains tied to initial health status
Solution Approach 1:
The system clearly separates the unlocking function (based on health metrics) from the rewarding function (based on application performance). Health metric data determines only whether a user can access the application, not how well they will perform or what rewards they will receive. This segmentation ensures both accessibility and fair competition.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using health metrics directly to determine rewards (traditional approach), the patent inverts the logic: health metrics unlock access to applications, but the applications themselves generate performance scores that determine rewards. The inversion breaks the direct correlation between physical activity levels and reward eligibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for rewarding users based primarily on performance scores as obtained during play of an application and based secondarily on health metric data (“HMD”) obtained from performing exercise are disclosed. A baseline or minimum exercise requirement is established, where this requirement is generally achievable regardless of one's initial health status. Satisfaction of that baseline exercise requirement then unlocks a user's ability to engage with an application, which generally challenges the user's non-physical abilities. The user's performance in that application is then the deciding factor as to who wins a reward program. Because the exercise aspect is designed to be generally achievable for most if not all users, those users are now equally encouraged or incentivized to participate in the exercise reward program because the determination of who will win is now separated from a user's health status.