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Hopelab

Hopelab is a social innovation lab focused on designing science-based technologies to improve the health and well-being of teens and young adults. They are a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation based in San Francisco, California. The foundation was established in 2001 by Pam Omidyar and is part of the Omidyar Group of philanthropic enterprises.

The organization's aim is to improve health outcomes for young people with cancer (Re-Mission), they also work to encourage childhood physical activity (Zamzee), design family-strengthening tools for young mothers and their babies, and help teenagers cultivate emotion-regulating strategies and skills.

Hopelab works closely with academic researchers, design firms, and healthcare systems, and has developed an approach that combines behavioral psychology with socially aware design.

Zamzee is a game-based product prototyped and tested by Hopelab as a tool to motivate children, families and groups to be more physically active. The product combines an activity tracker that records physical activity and a motivational website where activity is rewarded with points and prizes. Data from a randomized, controlled study conducted by Hopelab, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, showed that middle-school children using Zamzee boosted their physical activity levels by 59% compared to a control group. The study also showed significant increases in physical activity for at-risk groups, including a 103% increase among girls and 27% increase among overweight participants. Other outcomes included positive impacts on LDL cholesterol and glycated hemoglobin, key biomarkers for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. These results were announced at the 2012 Obesity Society annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

To begin its development of physical activity interventions, Hopelab, in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio launched an online competition called Ruckus Nation on September 18, 2007. The competition was structured as a form of crowdsourcing, and its objective was to generate ideas for products that will encourage children ages 11–14 to be more physically active. The competition was international in scope, open to people of all ages, with a total prize purse of more than 300,000 USD awarded to winners across four competition categories. More than 1,142 people registered to compete, and 429 ideas were submitted by teams representing 37 countries and 41 U.S. states. Contestants ranged in age from 6 to 82 years of age. Semifinalist teams were announced March 10, 2008. On March 17, 2008, 10 category winners, one grand prize winner, and one grand prize honorable mention were announced at an event at the de Young Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco, California.

In 2010 Hopelab launched Zamzee Co., a for-profit enterprise with a social mission to get kids and families moving more. Hopelab provided seed funding to the enterprise by way of a program-related equity investment of $1 million. Zamzee Co.'s objective was to market and conduct ongoing development of the Zamzee product, introducing features like Zamzee Family View and Zamzee for Groups.

In 2015, Zamzee was acquired by Welltok, developers of the CaféWell Health Optimization Platform. As part of Welltok, Zamzee will continue to help kids and families lead healthier, more active lives.

Hopelab's first product is the Re-Mission video game for teens and young adults with cancer. Released on April 3, 2006, the game is a Microsoft Windows based third-person shooter based in the serious games genre. The game was conceived by Pam Omidyar and designed based on Hopelab research, direct input from young cancer patients and oncology doctors and nurses, and game developer Realtime Associates, among others. The game was designed to engage young cancer patients through entertaining game play while impacting specific psychological and behavioral outcomes associated with successful cancer treatment.

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