The latest tube map refresh has come from Nike who have reworked the iconic design inspire Londoners to get walking with its FuelBand activity tracking device.
The new NikeFuel Map project encourages people to actually step off the tube, get above ground and walk.
Focused on central London’s Zone One, it details exactly how many NikeFuel points travellers could earn by walking between tube stops and seeing scenic London.
Supporting the Nike+ FuelBand wearable technology device, which tracks a user’s athletic activity and assigns rewards points for excercise, the NikeFuel Map is founded upon researcher/walker John Bingham-Hall’s personal steps as he walked all the routes between stops (and added a few landmark-led diversions to encourage Londoners to see more of their city on foot).
His routes were then transcribed into a map format by the Centre for Advanced Spacial Analysis (part of University College London) and worked on by designer/visualise David Luepschen who turned the data and schematics into a usable, graphically-accurate and visually-impactful map.
The project’s process and cycle has been recorded for an online ‘making of’ film, which also acts as a promotional platform for the initiative.
The interactive map is downloadable from the Nike website and a pocket-sized version of the map is also available to download and pick-up from selected Nike stores across London (including Niketown London, Boxpark, Stratford, White City and Covent Garden).
Comment
This may be a mini tactical campaign from the US-based sports apparel behemoth, but it is particularly interesting application of how to use widely recognised cultural collateral (in this case the tube map) in order to drive lifestyle change and boost the adoption of new technologies.
The aim, as is becomingly increasingly common with the merging of wearable technology and apparel brands, is to encourage customised healthier lifestyles and improve individual athletic performance in spaces beyond organised sports events.
Nike+ FuelBand was one of the first movers within the current trend for wearable technology and for self-tracking platforms that turn people’s daily lives into live data streams which can be used to moderate behaviour and improve health and wellness.
It blends smart sensors and complex algorithms to track athletic activity and then rewards wearers with NikeFuel depending how much movement it has tracked.
The sports clothing and equipment giant not only aims to get more Londoners walking, but to tap into what has become an avalanche of tube map reinterpretations and generate PR benefits from its own reworked map.
This may help its objective of engaging with a wider and more inclusive leisure and activity focus (in addition to its traditional sports performance and organised event silos).
Links
Nike FuelMap YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO8DxxMpW-c
Nike FuelMap
http://nikeinc.com/news/nike-inspires-londoners-with-the-nikefuel-map
Nike FuelMap Press Release
nikeinc.com/news/nike-inspires-londoners-with-the-nikefuel-map#/inline/22479
Nike FuelBand
http://www.nike.com/cdp/fuelband/us/en_us/
http://store.nike.com/gb/en_gb/pd/fuelband/pid-683902/pgid-683903?cp=EUNS_KW_UK_*Icons
Bartlett Centre For Advanced Spatial Analysis
http://www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/casa
University College London
