Orlando, Florida, the NASA Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex: visitors stroll around learning all about space exploration and NASA technology, when suddenly the floor comes to life under their feet, displaying moving meteorites.
Related: EyeClick company profile / Total Immersion - The Goal of Interactive Gaming / EyeClick Joins Forces with Salitek to Create Cutting-Edge Interactive Walls
Children quickly try to jump on the meteorites as they move (below right), in an educational, timed game whereby players test their mental and physical abilities for a chance to qualify for t
he following year’s astronaut class. (see NASA Center for Space Education Features New Interactive Platform by EyeClick )
Liverpool, England, the Beatles Story visitor attraction: in the new Discovery Zone children discover a huge virtual piano keyboard on the floor (left) that actually responds to their movements. Mallorca, Spain, the Palma Aquarium: inside the Blue Fin Tuna exhibition, people can see scores of fish swimming below their feet, and others in tanks on the walls that spook if you get too close, but they are all just images on interactive screens ( see EyeClick Adds Special Touch to Blue Fin Tuna Exhibit at Palma Aquarium).
All of these examples are based on the same technology: the interactive panels by EyeClick Ltd. Founded in Israel in 2005 and now working from two more headquarters in London and Atlanta, EyeClick is a company stemming from a pure IT background, which they turned into a concentrate of technology in the shape of a panel that can be used on floors, tables, windows, or any kind of surface as a platform for media displays. In other words, EyeClick gives the
ability to display digital content – advertisement, games, images, videos and so on – in various public locations, including convention centers, retail spaces, airports, exhibition spaces and other commercial locations.
EyeClick installations are based on MotionAware technology, which comes to life and reacts when human movement is detected. By interacting with the projected images, people activate animations, trigger sounds, play games or interact with content applications in an exciting and memorable way. Applications have virtually no limits, because the system works like magic and, as the company slogan says, ‘magic sells.’
The latest format presented by EyeClick and already successful is the premium interactive playground EyePlay. Safer and less costly than a physical playground, it consists of the same basic panels as the other installations, complete with a number of different interactive games and templates to create new games or personalize existing ones. Only suitable for indoor installations, its motion-activated games allow children to play with their whole body, and they are all extremely intuitive and easy to play, so everyone can enjoy them. Multiple players can run, jump, twist and dance, using their hands and feet to set in motion sounds and colorful graphics.
“EyePlay is like having a full blown playground inside your facility, except it’s safer and easier to maintain,” we were told by Yuval Golan, VP Marketing & Business Development for EyeClick. “There are no moving parts to trip on, it’s a completely virtual experience. Plus, the system is not subject to hard wear or tear, keeping your running costs low.” But what makes this solution really stand out among other possibly similar ones is its being customizable. “Each package includes 15 or 30 educational and action-oriented games, plus 5 or 10 different game templates that can be easily customized to match your needs. For instance, you may want to change the game background images, its logos, its music to match your venue’s theme. Or to match an event: during a birthday party you may want to feature the birthday boy’s (or girl’s) face.” Another possibility is to use the panels to broadcast advertisement between games, and to this end the system can be equipped with EyeControl, which records how much the game is used and thus offers objective ROI data to show to prospective sponsors.
All EyePlay packages include the cameras, projectors and PC with proprietary software, as well as the games and templates. And as we said, it is already selling well. “Our sales are growing inside malls and in other indoor locations. Presently we are doing good business with Burger King in Spain, which has already installed 12 of our playgrounds, with more to come,” concluded Golan.
This article is reprinted , kind courtesy of Mara Reschiglian, Games and Parks magazine.