Project Overview
Have you ever seen those before & after pics of meth addicts and been shocked by the deteriation of their appearance? Ice Effex is an educational tool for young people, parents, teachers, community & social workers; in fact Ice Effex can be used by anyone! It provides people with the ability to see what their face may look like, over a period of time, using the drug Ice/crystal meth. With icons at every stage it provides you with information about the effects of Ice use; on your teeth, your skin and your hair.
Organisation
Team
Trinity Lonel & Haydn Cooke - Ice Effex
Jacqui Croft - Project Manager
Ross Gillespie - UX Engineer
Peter Flannery - UX/UI Designer
Sheryl Matthews - Lead Tester
Priyank Kapasi - iOS and Android Software Engineer
Project Brief
ICE Effex isn’t your everyday mobile application; it’s a social tool with a powerful message and an honorable goal to transform the way Australians view ice addiction.
As the name alludes, ICE Effex is a mobile app that uses image distortion facial recognition technology to transform our selfies into a shocking reality of the effect of ice, what we’d look like as an ice/crystal meth user over a period of 12 months.
The aim is not to scare people but to paint a reality which is true for so many ice users. Before & after pictures of addicts are splashed throughout the media everyday, and whilst they do show the physical deteriation, they also allow us to disassociate, the 'that'll never happen to me' rationale. In a society obsessed by image and appearance, Ice Effex offers a glimpse of the future self, should the decision to begin using ice ever be made. The app, whilst although entertaining, hopes to raise awareness of the physical devastation of ice use, preventing people from ever wanting to try the highly addictive drug.
More importantly the goal of the app is to break down barriers between parents, children and schools, creating a platform for open conversation about the effects of ice addiction. Ice Effex is another tool in the fight against the ice epidemic.
Project Need
Ice is fast becoming a major issue in both metro and regional towns all over Australia. Kids as young as 12 are using it, as well as the parents of 12 year old children. It is indiscriminate and coming to a town near you!
The idea for Ice Effex was conceived by Trinity and Haydn, who both work in social services, experiencing from the front-line the devastation that the Australian ice epidemic is having on both communities and families.
Trinity has worked with the homeless community of regional Victoria for over 8 years, seeing ice addicts turn to dealing and criminal activity to keep the addiction alive whilst surviving on the streets.
Haydn’s experience in drug and alcohol rehabilitation spurred his passion and motivation behind this project, watching ice addiction sky rocket within the last 18 months.
Having teenage children meant watching them constantly taking selfies and obsessing over their appearance, with their phones permanantly attached to their hand. It seemed a no brainer to them that the best way to educate young people about drug use was to combine the three together. There are several face distortion apps available however, none with a social and educational objective like Ice Effex. It is the first of it's kind and is a new and innovative approach to drug education.
User Experience
Ice Effex is interactive from the begining to the end. The app asks for the user to use a picture from their camera roll or provides a guide for them to take a selfie. After aligning the facial features it is tehn trasformed using image distortion facial recognition technology.The user is then able to move through the time frame seeing their appearance detriorate at each stage.
With a share function, users are able to save their image to the camera roll, send via text message or email and upload their image to facebook and twitter.
Project Marketing
The Ice epidemic is reported on a daily basis, so with this in mind we believed it would market itself. With no funding left to spend on a marketing campaign, we looked to what we could do ourselves at zero cost.
Our target market were teens and young adults, so it was obvious to head to social media and gather a following on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. In addition to this we approached our local newspapers including the Benalla Ensign, The Wangaratta Chronicle and The Border Mail. All three produced articles about Ice Effex and the impact it could have on deterring people from using Ice. The Wangaratta Chronicle chose to 'ice' the local member for indi and this lead to an interview with the chanel 9 news.
With this exposure and our online presense building within 6 weeks Ice Effex was discovered by the Sunday Night, program who wanted to include a link on their web page as well as result pictures from the app of Deryn Hinch. From this point Ice Effex went global! The app has featured in articles from across the world including The Daily Mail, The Sun & the New York Times, just to name a few. Ice Effex also featured on the US tv shows, The Talk and The Doctor's.
The exposure has been phenomenal and has resulted in thousands of downloads from more than 75 countries.
Project Privacy
This app does not collect information from users and does not require them to submit any private information to function.
Best Mobile Marketing Campaign
This category recognises campaigns that use elements such as competitions, promotions & messaging to engage customers on the mobile channel exclusively.
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