The official blog of Uncharted Play

We are so lucky to have a very talented crop of associates this spring.

Check them out!

Alex Reynolds

I am from Buffalo, New York. I am currently a junior at Fordham University. I study International Political Economy and Economics at school, while I also minor in Business Administration. During my first two and a half years at Fordham, I captained the school’s sailing team and also worked at the Career Services office. I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at Uncharted Play. I am particularly excited to be working at social enterprise with such a wonderful and meaningful mission. I also think that the practical experience of working here will complement my strong academic background that will be highly beneficial for my future. Lastly, the team and atmosphere at UP are extraordinary which certainly provided a great deal of motivation for me to apply to this position.

Dani Vasco

I’m originally from North Carolina. I studied math at UNC-Chapel Hill, and have always had an interest in business, and business development. My whole line of family on my father’s side ran eco-tours in Ecuador, so it’s something that runs in my family. When I first heard of the SOCCKET, I was really surprised. It was a simple, but brilliant idea that made a lot of sense. I became interested in interning in business development at Uncharted Play because I wanted to work on something that I could care about and sincerely get behind. SOCCKET was exactly that. SOCCKET is addressing a real need, and I am truly excited by the potential for impact that it has. I feel privileged to work on such a neat invention, and look forward to seeing where the SOCCKET will be a few months and years down the road.

Erica Schroeder

I’m originally from Boston and recently moved to NYC after graduating with my master’s in International Development and Management from Lund University in Sweden. I have previous experience working with NGOs involved in youth development, health and human services, and human rights–most recently in Cambodia. I’m passionate about social enterprise and the intersection of technology and international development. I’m excited to join Uncharted Play and get involved with M&E and impact strategy!

Laura Lighty

I am currently a junior industrial design student at Pratt Institute. I wanted to work as an intern for Uncharted Play for several reasons. My passion is to use design and creativity as a tool to help others, and better their lives. Being a former high school soccer player, I love the idea of designing soccer balls as well!

Peter Lee

I am currently a senior at NYU, majoring in philosophy with a minor in business studies. What motivated me to become an associate for Uncharted Play was the idea of leveraging technology to address issues prevalent in the world today. I believe that Uncharted Play’s mission to incorporate solutions into fun activities is a great way to address socioeconomic issues with minimal backlash by the public. Also, the Uncharted Play environment is a great environment to learn about the different aspects of a starting business, from product development to its social, marketing, and business strategies. I enjoy reading, snowboarding, and all things green or glow-in-the-dark.

Richard Yao

I’m originally from Shanghai, China and am now a graduate student at NYU in Media Studies. Back in China I interned in various media entities as an assistant and a copywriter. I’m very excited to be joining the UP team for my first internship in the States, and I’ll be working closely with Alison as a social media associate to make our social media channels awesome!

Interested in being an Uncharted Play associate? Be social and get in touch with us on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter!

If you’re a designer without a social mission, you’re missing the boat.

In the past decade, the industrial designer’s job has expanded to something greater than just a maker of things. Increasingly people are designing for social innovation. They are putting their expertise to work and designing affordable solutions to basic unmet needs in the developing world.

Evidence of this movement can be found everywhere – in university programs, in printed books or in museum exhibitions, like the Design for the 90% exhibition at the Copper-Hewitt Design Museum in New York. This trend does not only run through the design profession. It is interdisciplinary and ranges from businesspeople to engineers.  In response, colleges and universities are creating programs that foster this interest to prepare students for careers that make a difference.

Take, Designmatters ,a program that focuses on producing designs for positive social impact based at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. In 2011, students traveled to the slums of Peru to participate in a special studio called Safe Agua Peru encouraging designing solutions to solve water poverty in the area. The GiraDora was a result. Designed by students Alex Cabunoc and Ji A You, the GiraDora is a foot-powered washing machine, eliminating many physical obstacles and health issues involved with hand-washing laundry. What a great solution!

Photos courtesy of Inhabitat

Can’t get enough? Get Architecture for Humanity ‘s series of books Design Like You Give a Damn and Design Like You Give a Damn [2] featuring several larger scale design solutions to many social needs in a sustainable, innovative way.

Then join AIGA’s Design for Good online community.

“Design for Good is a platform to build and sustain the implementation of design thinking for social change. This platform creates opportunities for designers to build their practice, their network, and their visibility.”

We at Uncharted Play applaud anyone who is committed to making a positive change in the world.  In fact, as a social enterprise we are a part of this movement. The SOCCKET is a product designed to deal with a pressing social issue -  energy poverty.

Photo courtesy of Peter DiCampo, Life without Lights

Energy poverty affects 1.3 billion people in the world.  As a design associate, I am helping design and improve the SOCCKET’s durability, water resistance and playability through research, product testing, and of course good old-fashioned sketches and ideations. It’s fulfilling to know that my work at Uncharted Play helps to solve a social need!

Photo from Uncharted Play

Written by Laura Lightly, spring 2013 design associate at Uncharted Play.

No, it’s not yet an official category, but we think it should be.

SYFY graciously invited Uncharted Play out to CES 2013 to showcase The SOCCKET (not yet available for retail) to a core group of Igniters and we had a blast!  The guests were so supportive of our mission and vision and could not wait to get their hands on a SOCCKET.

This was our first time at the International Consumer Electronics Show, (well, not actually at CES, but at a cocktail hour that SYFY generously hosted for certain CES attendees).  SYFY hosted an event for their core audience, Igniters, highly imaginative and highly connected people.  SYFY and the news site PFSK have identified Igniters as a new group of consumers who drive consumer behavior with their high connectivity and influence through social media.

We noticed something else about the Igniters:  they were well-traveled and globally minded.  We kept hearing about how they would have loved to have SOCCKETs on their recent trip to Tanzania or Pakistan or Rwanda or Liberia… you get the idea.  A bigger, flatter, tv or a bedazzled iphone case just wasn’t “igniting” their creative fire–what moved them about The SOCCKET was that it was going to improve someone’s life in a very tangible, elemental way.   And once the conversation turned to technology innovation for social good, it was intoxicating.  What if just one-sixteenth, or one one-hundredth, of the products at CES had social good as their underlying motivation?

To be fair, the Quantified Self Movement kind of fits into the social good category and quantified self innovations definitely stole the show this year.  But the Quantified Self Movement is only about getting more information about yourself.

At Uncharted Play we’re demanding more.

We’ve taken the Quantified Self Movement, combined it with Social Good movement and created The Ludo.  The Ludo is an all purpose ball that tracks the time you play with it and wirelessly uploads your hours to our online social good marketplace.  Your play hours are your currency and you “spend” them to support social causes you believe in.

Play = Social Good

If that’s a future you’d like to see, join our community on Facebook and Twitter .  We want to hear from you and we can’t do it alone!

The band that proves you can be a rock star AND a humanitarian!

Does Linkin Park sound familiar?  You may know the award winning band from their insanely popular debut album Hybrid Theory or Meteora, their (five time) platinum album.  But did you know that everyday they are putting their fame to good and advocating for a better life for billions of people?

Linkin Park started Music for Relief, their non-profit, in 2005 after witnessing the devastation of the Indian Ocean Tsumani. They have inspired other musicians such as Beck, K’Naan, Dave Matthews Band, and Eddie Vedder to join them in raising awareness and funds for those in need.  To date Music for Relief has raised over five million dollars, planted one million trees, and helped countless people live a better life.

This year they have joined forces with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to raise awareness of energy poverty, an insidious poverty that affects half of the world population.  In partnership with us, Uncharted Play, Music for Relief is bringing fun, sustainable energy to those who need it most.

Click here to watch the story of energy poverty by Linkin Park cut to the song POWERLESS

Want to join Linkin Park in the fight against energy poverty?  Click here to sponsor a Music For Relief Soccket today.

Let us know, what is one things that needs energy that you canNOT live without?

NYU-Poly and Uncharted Play are putting the Soccket to work with Innovation Education workshops.  These workshops use hands on learning to show the power of creative problem solving and the benefits of utilizing waste to create value, through the Science of Smart Cities program.

As huge proponents of the use of creative technologies as tools to augment science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curricula, Uncharted Play has fallen in love: with littleBits and MakerBot.

 read NYTimes article about Little Bits and the Maker movement here

Think LEGOs for the 21^st century: tiny, modular electronic circuit boards that snap together and come apart to suit a child’s whimsy, each piece with a different functionality! littleBits is trying (and succeeding!) to redefine science education. In an effort to make electrical engineering fun, exciting, and engaging to a wide variety of age groups, littleBits’ colorful, unique kits are open-source, customizable, and above all, FUN!

And have you ever wished you could have access to those super-cool printers that can construct 3-dimensional objects from thin-air? Meet MakerBot, and your wish is their command! Founded in 2009, MakerBot is redefining the way we think, learn, and create, enabling just about anybody with a dream and a plan to fabricate real-world objects from their imagination. By making use of the open-source revolution, MakerBot has revolutionized the maker repertoire, making 3D printers more affordable than ever!

Read more about Makerbot in education here

By providing a toolbox full of maker-tools and fun, functional approaches to STEM education, technology is redefining the way our children learn, empowering and engaging the next generation of dreamers and doers!

-Post by VP of Social Development Abigail Cohen

The World Bank reported this year that the majority of mobile phone users are in developing countries, but do they have a measure for affection toward your phone?  I think NY may be the epicenter of that love.

Here is a collection of some of my favorite impromptu cellphone charging action.

NYPD allows people to charge using their generator.

Picture courtesy of FEMA

People crowd around the front of the Ace Hotel.

 
Photo courtesy of @CarlaRzeszewski

Shopping? Charge your phone while you’re at it!

Photo courtesy of @CarlaRzeszewski

and my personal favorite, Biolite sets up a charging station in Brooklyn.  Read the story behind this photo here.

Photo property of John Del Signore @gothamist  

And last but not least, check out this video from NBCnews.com The camera pans from lit uptown to dark downtown.

Here at Uncharted Play we’re working on a cell phone charger that can be charged by our Soccket ball.  Small backup power sources aren’t only for the developing world, and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we can only expect more extreme weather events.

Got any pictures to share?   Send them my way!

10 Questions for the Millennial Innovator 

1. What makes you an innovator?

I think my inability to follow the rules or follow traditional paths makes me an innovator. Many times, it makes me inefficient, but once in a while, I’ll question why people do things the way they do and think that there must be a much better way with stubborn relentlessness to send me working in the right direction.

2. What do you think is the greatest innovation of your generation?

As someone who loves human-centered design, the idea of designing around a real human need, I think the Soccket comes pretty close. Children will play wherever, and the ability for a family to build on this joy with electricity is an amazing feat.

3. What was your favorite game to play as a child?

Definitely ball hockey. Every day, I’d lug a bag full of street hockey goalie pads to school so that when the recess bell rang, my friends and I could set up a half-court game of ball hockey. I’ve been told I had a glove hand like no other.

4. What is your favorite way to play now?

I still love playing all kinds of hockey – whether ice or on foot. I’m also an avid biker and runner and think that going on fast runs with friends is a great way to get the adrenaline rushing.

5. What do you think will be the biggest challenge of the next century?

I think the next biggest challenge will be providing clean water to people in both the developing and developed world. In college, I took an environmental economics class called “Water as a Scarce Resource.” It really opened my eyes to how water is regulated and how slow water replenishes compared to how fast we take it from reserves!

6.What’s the biggest failure your company has faced so far and how did you handle it?

Our biggest challenge so far has been not having a full-time web/graphic designer on our team. I love the design process and think visuals are an extremely compelling way to communicate but designers for Designed Good are like Defense Against the Dark Arts tutors in Harry Potter (elusive!). If you know anyone who loves what Designed Good is up to, send him or her our way!

7. If you could have a superpower what would it be?

Teleportation. I really want a burrito from the Mission right now.

8. Who are your heroes?

My heroes are my parents. They are the truest of social entrepreneurs and have shown me to aim high in terms of the impact I want to create. If I can help a quarter as many people as they have, I’ll definitely consider myself successful.

9. What music are you listening to these days?

Mumford and Sons! They are definitely my favorite band and the song “Below My Feet” is incredible. I run to Dubstep and party to “Gangnam Style”. My life goal is to participate in a Gagnam style flash mob at some point this year.

10.  What’s next for you?

Designed Good and I are in for the long haul. Katy and I are excited to see where this journey takes us. While we’re going though, I hope to learn as much as possible about design, entrepreneurship and everything in between. I also hope that I get to become friends with all our members – they make Designed Good so much fun to work on.

About Imran

Imran is a co-founder of Designed Good, a digital marketplace where you can discover compelling products that blend style with a force for social change. He recently graduated from Williams College in June and believes in the power of consumers to create impact through something as simple and awesome as making a purchase. He currently lives in Williamstown, MA where he takes full advantage of running trails and biking up small mountains. In his spare time, he reads books about design and is working hard to train his inner designer so that he can unlock it already!

About Designed Good

What if products weren’t just designed well, but designed good for the world? We curate the best in design and accent the real worth behind the things you buy. Designed Good is: Clothing. Artwork. Gear. Gadgets. Accessories. And the stories about how they’re making a difference.

Don’t Accept the Sedentary Lifestyle: Being Active Can Only Make You Better! 

When I was studying in the library in college and dreamed of what my future career would be like I never thought, “Gee, I’d like to be glued to my computer and sit 7 hours a day.”  But when I traded in my waitressing job for a professional office job,  I quickly realized that most jobs where our brains do the majority of the work means a whole lot more sitting.  Good for the knowledge economy, bad for my butt.

Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic has found that, “Americans spend more than half their waking hours sitting — primarily watching TV, driving and working at a desk.”  This is especially bad considering the acute obesity epidemic we are facing.

Although we are trending toward an increasingly sedentary society, it’s not our destiny.  So what can we do about it?

Here are a few things we have done at Uncharted Play to combat sedentary office work.  Feel free to take these ideas and use them, build upon them, and share your tactics for being an active office worker with us.

• Make it a Competition. We have created a game around being active.  We set an alarm to get up every hour and do push-ups, sit-ups, or a yoga move. You don’t lose anything if you miss a round, but peer pressure still works wonders!
• Team Support. We support each other to tear ourselves away from our work, get up, walk around, go outside and breathe some fresh air.  Whether it’s getting coffee, taking a walk to the far bathroom, or just catching a glimpse of the sun, we work together to make sure we’re all moving our legs more each day.
• Make It Fun. Physical activity doesn’t always need to be boring or mundane. Often, our team is fully active just by trying out upcoming products and kicking around the SOCCKET. If you struggle to break into standard exercise every hour, consider getting a hula hoop or skip-it in the office. You’ll be surprised how easy it is to exercise when you’re having fun!
• Make or buy a standing desk Even if you can’t buy a new desk, stand while you read email and type articles.  We’ve found that we’re actually less tired now that we stand more.

Forbes author Kate Taylor explores the benefits of standing desks here.

Need some facts to support your active office working campaign?  Check out this infographic from OnlineCollegeCourses.com that shows the benefits of being active (note to bosses: exercise has been shown to increase productivity!).

I sat down with Jessica Matthews, the CEO and co-founder of Uncharted Play, and asked her a few questions that give us a peek into the personal side of this energetic thought leader.

Enjoy!

1. What makes you an innovator?

The key to innovation isn’t creativity, but rather, execution. A true innovator sees the world for what it is and what it could be, and works tirelessly to bridge the gap. Without execution–the act of actually getting things done–you’re more of an idea person than an innovator.

2. What do you think is the greatest innovation of your generation?

The cellphone–in particular, the smart phone/Iphone. It is now so unbelievably easy to connect with, learn from, and influence the world with just the twitch of your thumb. The smart phone has leveled the playing field for people looking to do meaningful (and not so meaningful) things, and has raised the bar for what we expect out of our technology.

3. What was your favorite game to play as a child?

Favorite game? I played a lot and I loved almost all of the games, so that’s a tough one. I like playing sports–basketball, volleyball, tennis, bowling, pool–all of it. I really liked hula hooping, if that counts as a game. I was also really fond of building forts and playing “fort house” or whatever we decided we were doing. I wasn’t really into video games, but there was a game called Monkey Island for the PC that my sister and I would play all of the time. I also played monopoly with my family quite a bit, but as I rarely win, I don’t think I would call it a favorite:)

4. What is your favorite way to play now?

Honestly, not much has changed. Instead of building forts, I love designing my living spaces, and instead of Monkey Island, I play Assassin’s Creed on my IPad, but otherwise, I’m always up for a good game. If I had to choose just one, I would say dancing. I break in to a little boogie at least once a day, and I usually look like a total idiot when I do it. I just find it so ridiculously fun to move around to music.

5. What do you think will be the biggest challenge of the next century?

Scarcity. We’re simply running out of…well, everything, and it’s a direct result of our success in keeping people healthy and alive. We need to place controls on the way we consume and design new processes for engaging with ourselves, others, and our environment. Unfortunately, change is never easy, and changing the way people have been doing things for decades is nearly impossible. However, I believe that with dedicated thought from our generation and a realistic acceptance of the psychological factors that influence adoption of new ideas, we will be able to produce sustainable solutions.

 6.What’s the biggest failure your company has faced so far and how did you handle it?

Just one failure? That’s another tough one:) I think one memorable issue we had occurred about a year ago when we enlisted a product development firm to help us develop the SOCCKET and find a cost-effective source for manufacturing. We were young and felt we had vetted the firm properly at the time, but we really didn’t ask the right questions before beginning our business relationship. As a result, we wasted a lot of time and money, and felt we were constantly battling against the firm to get our design wishes across, when we should have been working with them to create the best product possible. In the end, we realized that our business was one that required a certain mindset–a belief in the higher mission of what we’re doing and true empathy for our target users. If a potential business partner doesn’t share those qualities, he/she is not a good fit no matter how great of a portfolio is presented. I’m happy to say that as soon as we recognized this with the product development firm, we made the appropriate changes swiftly so the mission wouldn’t get lost in our mistake.

 7. If you could have a superpower what would it be?

I’m stuck with a 3-way tie: Rain Man-like computation skills, a super eidetic memory, and the ability to do parkour without breaking all of my bones.

8. Who are your heroes?

That’s an easy one: Michelle Obama, Oprah, and Beyonce. When you look at these women, you’ll see what I aspire to be in every facet of my life.

9. What music are you listening to these days?

A little bit of everything–it really depends on what mood I am in at the the time. Nero, Two Door Cinema, The Black Keys, Calvin Harris, Kanye, Drake–as long as I can dance to it:)

10.  What’s next for you?

I plan to spend the next 12 months working on research to further the efforts of Uncharted Play and the industry of using fun to do good. I think the time is right for a massive change in the way we work together to make the world a better place, and I’m hoping Uncharted Play can be at the forefront of this revolution.

JESSICA O. MATTHEWS

As the co-founder and CEO of Uncharted Play, Inc., Jessica drives the creative vision of an award-winning social enterprise with a mission to breed a generation of socially motivated innovators through dual functioning play products. Recently named Huffington Post’s Greatest Person of The Day, Jessica has been lauded for her development of socially relevant products, such as the SOCCKET, a soccer ball that

harnesses the energy generated during play and then stores it for later use as a portable generator. Prior to Uncharted Play, Jessica has worked with an array of startups, most recently as the brand equity strategist for Crowdtap, a social media marketing platform for brands to gain marketing insights directly from consumers. Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, and is slated to begin her MBA education from Harvard Business School in the fall of 2012

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Visit our website to find out more about Uncharted Play, The SOCCKET, and our vibrant team of innovators.