Sony has just announced the EvolutionUI which takes a bit of a different approach towards the conventional mobile user interface. The company claims this is an experimental project and aims to gamify the user experience so that users get a feel and sense of learning something new from their device along the way.

Users will be given a bare bones UI with four core shortcuts on the homescreen and a clock widget. It will be locked, so they cannot change shortcuts or add new features without earning “Achievements”. It’s pretty much like a game where you have to level up in order to unlock new features, which is why Sony is using the verb “Gamify”.

Achievements can be earned by doing something as trivial as opening five applications, adding a widget and so on. To keep a track of user achievements and usage, EvolutionUI will be connected to Sony’s EvolutionUIService.

This launcher can be downloaded right away on any Android device, although Sony hasn’t specified Android version compatibility yet. And it currently has four levels — namely Beginner, Easy, Medium and Advanced.

The launcher here appears to be borrowed from AOSP, so people using stock Android will find the UI familiar enough. There are also plenty of other options to implement the EvolutionUI, including some nifty developer tools, so make sure you give it a look from the link below.