Be Fit With Biray

I spent some time at Barnes & Noble yesterday browsing through the new arrivals (Steve Martin’s new book “Born Standing Up” looks promising). Anyway, this particular store was located inside one of those mega-(should-have-its-own-zipcode)-malls. As I was leaving, I had to walk through the mall - which (this time of year) is the equivalent of playing dodgeball, except you’re dodging kids instead of balls. On this insanely crowded day, I came across a giant white pad on the floor just outside the food court. Kids were all over it, jumping and screaming deliriously. As I observed their chaos, I discovered the source of their addiction: Reactrix “a network of interactive and immersive media displays.” Basically, a physically engaging advertisement campaign.

Here’s the jist of how it works: each 30-second ad is designed with its own game objective to which a ‘player’ can jump, hop, kick, stomp on the ’screen’ (floor) in order to interact. For instance, a popcorn ad entices a passerby to jump on the kernels and pop the corn with their feet. (Photo: a young girl kicks the ball to another player).

Here’s what I find interesting: Although anyone can jump on this ‘game’ - those who tend to be most attracted to it are the kids. Meanwhile, it captures the parents attention as they stand on the sidelines watching, in essence, a 30-second commercial for popcorn on a sticky food court floor. In terms of advertising, I suppose it’s ingenious. But when you consider that this technology could be applied to exergaming development, creating the potential to elicit longer bouts of physical activity, well… then you’re only left with disappointment.

Check out this YouTube video - it demonstrates the range of this technology:

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=QzsQKULMbiU]

My favorite Reactrix demo was the soccer game - the equivalent of Nintendo’s Wii Bowling. How cool would this game be on a rainy day (or that 122 degree afternoon in Arizona - since we don’t get much rain here)? Maybe ‘wii’ exergaming advocates should send Reactrix letters suggesting they design sport-specific games for the health and fitness industry. Who knows, maybe Reebok or Nike will endorse the games.