January 23, 2019
New app creates educational bathroom humor
A group of University of Washington Civil & Environmental Engineering students, led by assistant professor Jessica Kaminsky, have created a mobile application called LoosePoops to help educate the public about sanitation issues around the world.
Loosely modeled after the popular game Fruit Ninja, where players slice fruit using a touch screen controlled blade, LoosePoops players slice poop emoji in order to advance through different levels. Each level features educational subject matter on topics such as wastewater treatment, fecal-oral contamination routes, latrine design and population growth and sanitation.
“Though the message and intent of the game is subtle, the player can quickly understand the importance of correctly disposing waste,” shared Alvin Nguyen, a student who worked on development of the game. “Hopefully, this game will teach the importance of urban sanitation as developing countries and communities are still working toward improving waste disposal.”