An e-learning application may, therefore, be decorated with trophies and bonus awards in order to motivate learners. The principle is to prompt the players to exceed their potential in individual challenge or amidst others.
This simple concept enables insurers to focus on the gathering of customer information in order to supply databases and big data.
The founding experience in this regard is the Toyota Glass of water [4] application by Japanese giant carmaker. Toyota customers are invited to fill a glass of water and to drive while reducing to the minimum liquid spills inside the vehicle.
The car manufacturer also provides a downloadable application on the dashboard simulating the glass of water and drop projection according to the movement of the vehicle.
The application, available since 2010, provides at the end of the course GPS positions where water spilled over.
In the same fashion, insurer Aviva has provided an application collecting driving habits of users. The latter are granted a grade varying from 1 to 10 every 300 kilometers according to the quality of their driving. Aviva Drive [5] was pompously launched in 2014.
Today, the application is using the telephone like dash cam, enabling good customers to obtain discounts on their premiums
With its social network Mindbloom [6], American life insurer Aetna has stretched the concept even further in 2011 with a view to refocus users on the important aspects of life.
In Mindbloom players take good care of a life tree that they maintain, sharing their pictures, tunes and personal inspirations over the network. Users may also come in communities, joining efforts to tend the trees while spending collected gains made in the game.
At its peak, Mindbloom has reported a use duration of 14 minutes per week and per player along with 250 000 App Store downloads in 2011.
Gamification fits in well with insurance because the latter is based on concrete substance, physical objects and persons that make up the core of the business. Technological companies that have tapped substantially in this potential have managed today through sensors and gamification, piggybacking onto the sector’s value chain.
That is how American group Google has been focused since 2019 on the e-health domain. Its takeover of Fitbit, specialist of connected objects, has paved the way for the information technology giant to gain a new positioning on the market. Several Fitbit sensors are actually recognized by insurance companies.
Life company United Health Care has, consequently, registered Google’s new Fitbit watches on the list of equipment approved for this shape-up program. This scheme, designed for American staff, aims at improving health practices by means of physical workout.
UnitedHealthCare Motion [7] has set daily objectives for its members in term of steps. Once these objectives have been met, a benefit up to 1000 USD per year is deposited on the health refund account or on the health saving account.
With insurance virtually reimbursing watches, the e-health sector has de-facto become the new hunting ground for information technology giants like Samsung and Apple.