Woosh Competition Management System 5.0 (MVP)
Throughout 2021, Niklas Schumacher (my business partner) & I have spent the year developing the MVP version of Woosh, which is now a web and mobile platform. The system we have developed so far/are still developing is a platform available for the Breaking, Hip-Hop/Popping and Bodybuilding communities.
This version of the system takes Woosh to the next level, making the system completely automated and self-service. This, therefore, allows our customers to be able to log into the web platform, set up and promote their events, and then download the mobile application and run the tools at their event autonomously, without us having to be present at the event!
We are currently still developing the MVP, robustly testing and iterating on the product in an agile fashion. As a result, the system is not completely public for use, but we aim to have the platform live in the first quarter of 2022.
We have, however, brought the system to two events so far this year, validating our new changes to the platform. These events a the Hydro Jam on 10th July 2021 and Break Mission X B-Side Festival 2021 on 14th/15th August 2021.
Break Mission X B-Side Festival 2021 - 14-15/08/21
Hydro Jam - 10/07/21
Please click the following link to see the landing page for our platform - here you can find our contact information, some videos explaining the system, and the ability to sign up for our newsletter.
In 2020 were shortlisted for the national 'Santander Emerging Entrepreneurs' business competition, making it to the semi-finals, and during, we created a crowdfunder page aiming to raise money for our development costs.
Check out the 3-part video series below that we made for our crowdfunding campaign, explaining what we have in store for you, now in the first quarter of 2022!
Click here to check out the official Woosh Instagram Page!
Woosh Competition Management System 4.0
Woosh 4.0 improved upon the last iteration drastically. Some of these improvements include:
- More reliable communication between the Judges' devices and the Woosh Server
- Capturing of results for post-event reports
- Considerable improvement to the event management features
Version 4.0 was used at 'Break The System Vol. 2' in Sheffield, 4th May 2019 and the following week at 'Break Mission x B-Side Festival' in Birmingham, 11th/12th May 2019.
Also, this year, version 4.0 was used at 'Break Central Vol. 6', 18th January 2020, a 1v1 & 2v2 breaking competition in London, at 'Y-Accelerator', 6th February 2020, a corporate business event, where Woosh was used during a performance to the business professionals & at 'Break Mission X B-Side Festival', 26th September 2020, a socially distanced live streamed 1v1 breaking competition
Scroll down for post-event photo and video content!
Break The System Vol. 2
Break Central Vol. 6
Y- Accelerator 2020
Break Mission 2019
Break Mission X B-Side Festival 1v1 2020 - 26/09/20
Check out our recap below!
Y-Accelerator 2019/20 - 06/02/20
Break Central Vol. 6 - 18/01/20
Break Mission x B-Side Festival 2019 - 11-12/05/19
Break The System Vol.2 - 04/05/19
Woosh Competition Management System 3.0
With this version of the system, I have focused on the traditional round-for-round style of judging, suitable for use at any breaking event.
The first event using this version of the system was the Kids British Championship 2018 which was a great success of the latest iteration of the system!
Check out some snaps by Scott Akoz and a small recap by myself, below!
Woosh Competition Management System 2.0
After creating the first version of the Woosh Competition Management System, I was inspired to create a new an improved version of the system, and run it at my own breaking competition.
I took all the feedback I received from the first system and implemented it, as well as bringing an artist, Trik09, into the project to create the artwork. In addition to this, I added a completely bespoke method of judging to the system, which was the unique selling point of our competition.
The event follows the traditional 1 v 1 competition format, with 3 judges, but the unique twist is that the 3rd traditional judge at the event is the competitors. When 2 competitors are battling, the remaining 14 or 6 (top 16 competitors or top 8 competitors respectively) will also vote and each of their votes will make up a small fraction of the final judge's result. For example, if there are 8 competitors and 2 are competition, there will be 2 official judges (each makes up 1 point each) and the remaining 6 competitors as the final 3rd judge (each of the competitor's votes makes up 1/6 of the final judge's vote). The competitor with the most overall points will win.
This unique twist was made possible with the changes to Woosh Competition Management System I created for the event.
Woosh Judging System 1.0
After being inspired watching a new electronic judging interface being used at elite breaking competitions, I wanted to create a smaller scaled version for local dance competitions. I chose to take on this task for my dissertation project.
Traditionally, at breaking competitions, after two dancers have battled, the judges would point at who they thought won. The Kozen system changed this, by providing a huge graphical interface to display the results and also adding a small variation in the style of judging. This however is only available at the elite level events, in which there are only a handful.
My ambition was to create the same system on a small scale using tablets and a laptop, so that small events will be able to take advantage of the technology.
My ambition was to create the same system on a small scale using tablets and a laptop, so that small events will be able to take advantage of the technology.
The technology I used to create this was as follows:
- Desktop Server
I wrote the underlying functionality using a language called Erlang. I decided to use this to utilise the functional, concurrent features. I felt like this technology would be perfect for the judging system as there will be simultaneous judges connected via a local network. Using Erlang to handle the concurrent networking functionality and also the functionality of the voting system made completing the project extremely enjoyable.
For the graphical interface, I used C++ and the graphics library SFML. I connected the Erlang back-end to the graphical interface and that is what is displayed to the user.
- Tablet Device Client
I wrote an Android application which the judges use to connect to the system. Once the judges connect, they will be notified of the next battle and they will then be able to vote. When they vote, the message will be sent to the desktop server, which will be displayed on the graphical interface for the audience to see.
- LAN
I connected the server and the client to the via TCP/IP over a LAN network.
As part of my project, I tested the judging system at a live event. I got a lot of positive feedback, which lead me to create "Woosh Judging System 2.0".
Below is a short trailer I made for the system:
