Nine Full Sail University Computer Science bachelor’s students joined forces with Echelon Fitness to develop the newest update for the Echelon Reflect fitness mirror. Students have been working on this project for almost a year and a half, and the new Reflect update was recently released to the public.

“[Students were] basically redoing and redesigning the entire application that runs on the Reflect. Not only how it looks, but also how it operates behind the scenes,” explains Jason Hinders, the Course Director for the Game Development bachelor’s and Computer Science bachelor’s degree programs.

Working in the Full Sail University Fitness Technology Lab Powered by Echelon Fit, students got to immerse themselves in a real-world programming environment with guidance from Echelon Fitness employees.

“It's a great mentoring opportunity for our students,” Jason adds.

Students worked to program several new capabilities for the Echelon Reflect, including an option for a main account holder to add a child account and a new commercial mode featuring a brand-new interface. The update is also more user-friendly and features a quick-start button, so users can begin their workout without having to login.

Because the participating students got to experience what it takes to design and implement front-end and back-end changes to the product, they were able to get a more complete understanding of how the Echelon Reflect works.

“[The update] is very good for the consumer or the user,” says Bobby Whitely, an Android Developer for Echelon Fitness and a Computer Science bachelor’s graduate. “Working with the students, I was impressed by their drive.”

Throughout the project, the students mainly used the Java programming language. But Computer Science students are also taught that the process is more important than the programming language you’re using on the a project.

“The nice thing about the Computer Science degree at Full Sail is that it's very hands-on,” says Jason. “The Reflect update really is a culmination of them learning all those things and applying it in their final project.”