A new mobile app -- AOK -- lets users record and tag Acts and Observations of Kindness (AOKs) performed and observed in everyday life, instantly share with friends and follow other AOKers, while earning points and rewards for their actions. In keeping with the nature of the app, points convert into real currency which is then donated to charities and relief efforts. "It's a double-whammy of good," said AOK's CEO and co-founder, Ira Liss. "You show kindness to the person next to you, and help someone far away at the same time."
AOK's founders -- actor/filmmaker Adrian Grenier and film producer Peter Glatzer who are also co-founders of eco-conscious game-changer SHFT.com -- recognized that people conduct acts of kindness all the time but have never had an organic and compelling place to share and encourage them. Now with geo-tracking and media capture mobile features, players post AOKs to a map and get notified in real-time of other players' AOK actions toward them. AOKers can challenge each other and brands can alert players to nearby sponsored challenges which offer rewards such as merchandise, discounts and real donations to charities and relief efforts.
Explains Ira Liss, "AOK is a fun way to get recognized for contributing, sharing and becoming aware of the millions of daily kind acts already happening. We're a 'social game for social good,' which means that earning points and leveling up gets you not only status among fellow gamers, but a heightened awareness and engagement with your surroundings and the people, critters and things in it. It's a new kind of kind."
Embracing the emerging trend of games for social change, AOK's goal is to increase societal mindfulness by encouraging real world acts of kindness through a well-designed social game. Navigating imaginative and high-concept designs, created by Ludlow Kingsley, coupled with Natron Baxter's (winners of Games for Change's Social Impact Award) immersive gaming vision and a fun mobile app developed by MokaSocial and Greenwire, AOK anticipates that people will enjoy capturing and sharing small acts of kindness and naturally generate a more rewarding and mindful community. The app is now available on iPhone, iPad and Android.