Charity marathon “Give five!” this year, the public’s attention is drawn to sports in order to shed light on the inactivity of the Latvian population and the related health problems. In the “Solve for Tomorrow” innovation competition this year, too, young people create ideas that combine sports and technology to inspire society to move. Teams from all Baltic countries will compete for cash prizes. The ideas of five Latvian teams have also been selected for the final.
In the “Solve for Tomorrow” innovation competition, young people are looking for ways to combine sports and technology
The idea is to allow access to smart devices through physical activity
Gerda Griezne, a 10th-grade student of Riga State 2nd Gymnasium, said that sport is character strengthening and discipline. She also doesn’t always want to go to training, but she concluded that it allows her to develop a sense of purpose, which she can later apply in other life situations.
“I have been playing tennis myself for 12 years, and I am a tennis coach with three years of experience. And when I encounter students with poor physical preparation on a daily basis, I have a desire to solve this problem,” said Griezne.
Gerda Griezne
Photo: Sintija Ambote / Latvian Radio
In order to reduce the inactivity of young people, she and her team participate in the international youth innovation competition “Solve for Tomorrow” with the idea of a mobile app that combines physical activities with screen time control. In other words, the more you move, the more screen time you earn.
“It’s a block of screen time that is unlocked only when a certain number of steps are walked. We have combined screen time applications with step counting applications, and the design is specially made for children from 5 to 14 years old, so we have chosen animals as the main characters. There will be free and premium version, and we can also offer cycling, swimming, running, which I think is very important. And we plan to tie it all together with sleep mode. So you earn those points while sleeping,” said Griezne.
According to her, people’s inactivity can be explained by what is understood by the words “sports” and “active lifestyle”.
“First of all, everyday life should be built so that sports don’t end only in the 40 minutes during which you run and then immediately change your clothes and go to the next classes. I think that it should also be informed in the classes of natural sciences and exact subjects that sports is not just that you grow bigger muscles, but it is real health that every person should take care of. And schools themselves should create such an environment where children are ready and inspired to move freely At least the same walking – it’s still movement,” said Griezne.
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An app that helps you find free time to move
On the other hand, Roberts Noviks, a 12th-grade student of Riga State 2nd Gymnasium, is working with his team on the idea of a mobile app that automatically synchronizes with young people’s calendars on their devices, analyzes their daily schedule and finds free time for movement.
“We see that young people do less sports. It worries us. We noticed that among us there is a desire to do something, especially in some kind of sports, but often simply, there is nothing to do or nowhere. And young people, for example, in universities plan their lectures in calendars, and then this tool can be integrated into the calendar. He looks, for example, you have lectures on Tuesday until five. Before that, you have also talked freely with an artificial intelligence tool, which is integrated into our application, and you tell him what you like to do, what you don’t like, so that the recommendations he gives you are suitable for you and you would also like to fulfill them. A lot of young people say that they don’t have time, because the application would show you here! The other function would be an interactive map. For example, you want to play basketball, and you see that there are five people who are going to play basketball, and you can join them. And so our idea is that we would talk to the organizations, Riga councils [Izglītības]the department of culture and sports, we would involve students, some presidents of local governments, we would try to make it such a sports networking platform,” said Novik.
Robert Novick
Photo: Sintija Ambote / Latvian Radio
In the survey of the “Solve for Tomorrow” initiative, 55% of young people admitted that it is precisely the fear of being criticized or ridiculed that prevents them from participating in sports activities.
Noviks has also been playing sports since childhood and is currently a track and field athlete. He has training 5-7 times a week, but he invites beginners not to be afraid.
“Everything you do is only for yourself, and no matter how cool you look, any self-respecting person who has already achieved something in that matter will never laugh at you because he has been in the exact same place. That is, even if someone laughs at you, you must remember that the person who laughed at you is mostly a simple person who has not done anything, who has not achieved anything in this matter. He is just watching from the sidelines, how can some expert on the couch watch a hockey game and comment on why they can’t score a goal? Well, maybe you should go and try. The goal is important, and those small victories are also important,” said Novik.
The mobile app turns physical activities into exciting missions
Teams from the regions have also reached the finals of the innovation competition.
Kate Tīne Melberde, a 9th-grade student at Gulbene Regional High School, told about her team’s idea, which offers to create a mobile app that turns physical activities into exciting missions: “I used to go to a sports school, now in Jaunsardze, because I like activities, but I think it’s less and less among my peers, because now they have smart devices and everyone just looks at the phone, plays computer games and doesn’t even go out with friends anymore. Well, if there are more interesting sports hours, then the young people will also want to do the same after the lessons. Our app is designed to help make sports lessons more interesting and interactive. The program where the teacher asks the child to run and find a point where it is written, for example, to do 10 squats. The children run to the birch, film a small video where they do 10 squats, and then the teacher evaluates them with points. you can get prizes within a month. And the program is designed to include children with mobility impairments or with emotional disorders.”
Virtual reality could make youth more equal in sports
The team of Viktorijas Dzenes, a student of the Limbaži State Gymnasium, offers to create a movement and game program with augmented reality glasses, which makes sports more equal, as users see each other as avatars.
“I’ve been playing volleyball since the 2nd grade, training is five times a week. Personally, this somehow got me out of being at home all the time or not wanting to do anything. And our idea is a program where every person who puts on glasses and is inside, they will see each other as avatars. There would be more attention then on what you do, not how you look. In sports lessons, the teacher can choose a task, for example, fighting a dragon, and there are some moves that need to be made. These glasses are like augmented reality, and you see the 3D elements that you only see through the glasses. It’s more exciting, and at the same time, you’re more focused on what you need to do instead of – I’m ashamed to do this just because I look different from someone else, and then you can’t really have this shame because you all look the same,” said Dzene.
Collect points and earn rewards for walking
The team of Laura Špilberga, a 10th-grade student of the Sigulda State Gymnasium, participates in the innovation competition with a mobile app that, in the form of a game, encourages you to walk more every day.
“I used to ride horses, but I went to music school for a long time, so I have very little free time, but I have a big dog at home, which I have to take for a walk every day, and I walked them 10,000 steps. In Sigulda, in general, there are quite a lot of opportunities to do sports, but I would say – half do sports, half don’t. The basic principle of the application we created is that you do some things, and for every 1000 you get 10 points for every step you take. You can exchange them for prizes. You can buy all kinds of extra clothes for him by collecting them. Our goal is that a person does something every day to improve his physical and mental condition,” said Špilberga.
On December 11, a total of 15 Baltic teams will compete for a prize fund of 16,000 euros in the finals of the innovation competition “Solve for Tomorrow”. The aim of the initiative is to promote self-education of students in STEM fields and to motivate young people to solve current challenges for society.
How to donate “Give five!” in a charity marathon?
To help children and young people with neurological movement disorders, for whom regular rehabilitation is crucial in their struggle for independence and a fulfilling life, You can donate in the following ways:
- Ziedot.lv homepage
- By calling 90204110 (call fee 5 euros)
- By exchanging a donation of at least 5 euros for your favorite song on the dodpieci.lv website.
- When buying a hot drink in the special “High five!” cups in “Narvesen” stores, 10 cents goes to the marathon goal
- In donation boxes in “Narvesen” stores with cash. When paying by card, you can add a donation to your purchase amount at the time of purchase.
- From December 12 to 18, cash and non-cash donations will also be accepted at the charity marathon glass studio in Old Riga.
