The design studio turning to game mechanics and virtual Zombies to get us off the sofa and into a pair of running shoes.

There are dozens of excuses we use to stay in with our feet up, rather than drag ourselves outside and do some exercise: it’s raining, you’re hungover, your feet hurt, it’s too late, it’s too dark. In the UK, statistics show that around a quarter of women and a fifth of men are classed as inactive, while obesity levels have risen in women from 16% to 24% in the past 25 years. Although these figures may be enough to get us off the sofa, in practice, it seems people aren’t that easily motivated.

Adrian Hon hopes to change this. His technology company Six to Start has developed a set of apps to encourage people of any ability to get fit. However, rather than the Nike+ model of sports technology, which motivates runners by tracking their time and distance covered, Hon’s apps use storytelling.

The first app the team developed was Zombies, Run!, which tells the story of a character called Runner 5, who exists in a fictional, post-apocalyptic world. Runner 5’s job is to leave the safety of his base and explore his surroundings, looking for supplies and people in danger – while avoiding bloodthirsty zombies that are roaming the wasteland. At certain points during the story the user is encouraged to take on the role of the Runner 5 character. For instance, when a zombie has just started to chase runners, the user must jog even faster. If Runner 5 needs to venture out to get supplies then the real-life runner is required to run a particular distance.

The idea draws on Six to Start’s previous work for the BBC and Disney, when the agency built alternate-reality video games. They applied these storytelling concepts to create new incentives for exercise. “Running never came naturally to me,” explains Hon. “I was surprised that while apps such as Nike+ tracked your run, there was nothing that made the process or experience of running more interesting or fun. Sure, you can get achievements from those apps, but it’s not a game in its truest sense. We needed our app to be compelling and immersive, and have a story that made sense.”

Ultimately Zombies, Run! works because, in a real zombie apocalypse, we’d all be running rather than sitting on the sofa waiting to be eaten. “We’re always releasing new missions, so the idea is that if you wake up on a rainy Saturday, you’re still going to get out there and run because you want to find out what happens next,” explains Hon.