Acting as a community driven nudge to encourage skateboarders to explore and grow, SC8R is a series of paired network devices designed to help skaters explore new areas in their city and find new places to practice tricks and moves based on fellow skaters’ recommendations. It uses radio communication and GPS positioning to identify hotspots and haptic vibration to alert the skater when they are nearby.

Tasked to explore people-to-self connection within the larger scale of the city using LoRa with a focus on range. The team saw skateboarding as an interesting opportunity - while it is an independent sport, skateboarders form a close-knitted community. Street skateboarding has also become popular during the coronavirus pandemic with closed skateparks and less traffic on roads. This rise in interest has led people to look for good in which areas to practice. Exploring how we might foster the skateboarding community in San Jose by guiding skaters to areas generated by crowdsourced engagement, the team focused on the people-to-self purpose through:

• Self exploration | exploring new skills and tricks


• Self development | adapting, practicing, and improving tricks in new areas


• Self expression | interacting with space through different tricks and moves


• Self reflection & taking action | evaluating on one’s skills and decide what’s the best location for practice

SC8R uses GPS to track the position of a skater and marks it as a hotspot if the skater spends a certain amount of time there. When a hotspot is marked, other skaters will get a notification through vibration motors embedded inside their helmets to let them know when they are near. The skater can then explore this new-to-them area and practise tricks to help them be a better skater. When the skater feels that they have mastered this new area, they can move on and find others while exploring their city.