Challenge Austria - Smartphone App

2nd place at UpperCode 2019, a 24 hours hackathon hosted by Oberösterreich Tourismus (Upper Austrian tourism association)

Are you ready for your challenge? Challenge Austria also challenges you!

Challenge Austria challenges people to become active. Challenge Austria is a smartphone app and offers so-called challenges for all hiking tours in Austria that have to be mastered. A challenge can be something as simple as completing a tour, but also something challenging or social, like beating a given time limit or completing a tour together respectively.

Photo by Martin Fickert

Points are awarded for all challenges mastered. Competition and motivation are encouraged by the global ranking. Group challenges, in which several hikers join together in the app, are intended to promote the usage of the smartphone application.

The progress during a challenge is measured by so-called checkpoints. Several NFC tags are prominently placed on the hiking trail and have to be scanned for progress. These also attract the attention of many hikers who do not use Challenge Austria yet and arouse their interest. Because the app does not rely on GPS, even longer hikes are possible without charging the smartphone battery.

A completed challenge is rewarded both virtually and in real life. In addition to virtual points, hikers receive vouchers for drinks, discounts and goodies, which can be redeemed at nearby partner businesses. This benefits not only the hikers, but also the local businesses. So-called featured challenges are challenges that local businesses can highlight by paying a fee to invite tourists to their restaurants. The higher frequency of tourists expected as a result can lead to increased sales.

Title photo by Simon Matzinger

More project information to come… 😉

• BeeKeeper - mobile app to support the breeding of a queen bee
• BeeKeeper - IoT solution to track flight behavior of a bee hive
• LiveLeague - real time application for small tournaments (e.g. five-a-side football tournament)