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UK's Leisure Extravaganza Takes off
The Leisure Industry Week (LIW) show gathered the 400 top international suppliers and developers for the health and fitness, leisure and attraction, and for the first time invited the hospitality and food industry with the inclusion of the National Licensed Business show.
Beyond the events core business the event proved the trendsetter with a strong showing of the interactive exercise gaming genre (Exer-Gaming). A hoard of systems graced the floor with some new thinking behind fitness and fun.
One entering and leaving the show attendees were able to play with the latest in promotional technology. OM Interactive had been invited by the organizers to run an installation of their ‘Living Surface' system. A projected video on the floor fully interactive when touched, similar to the technology first trailed by the Stinger following our Korean coverage (Stinger #492), this high definition version proved a draw to fascinated guests, OM Interactive a client of Stinger owners KWP, entering wider application of the interactive light and video technology.
More vigorous interactive experiences marking the deployment of Exer-Gaming saw new industry powerhouse Zig Zag take a prominent booth at LIW and rock the proceedings. The big draw was ‘ZigZag Machine Dance', a fitness version of the BeatMania amusement game ‘In The Groove 2' (PC Hardware). Up to 32 dance wireless dance platforms stomped to correspond simultaneously exer-gaming on the big screen display. A special fitness version of the game developed.
Another interactive system with strong school appeal was the ‘ZigZag Wall' the company the UK distributor of the ‘Sportswall Interactive Training Station' unit mentioned in the Stinger Exer-Gaming special (Stinger #497). The other interactive system on booth was ‘ZigZag Exer-Station Pro' based on previous technology demonstrated last year the system used the player stressing a special interface to cause movement on the screen, currently used as a PlayStation joypad.
One of the new and growing names in youth training is SHOKK. The UK company specializing in physical activity to youngsters aged 8-16; a youth fitness company, focused on Function Lifting Technology (FLT). Not just the technology SHOKK runs 60 sites in the UK. Currently developing exercising hardware for the youth requirements the company has dabbled with interactive Exer-Gaming units.
On their booth the company showed their ‘Target Wall!' which operated similar to the ZigZag system. A simple but highly effective light button and score combination, able to be programmed to player heights and ability. Another physical work out was from Innovative Leisure, who have added to their climbing structure and moving wall with the interactive pad hitting ‘3-KICK'. The new system on show offering a coin
From the walls to the floor as an interface medium, Balance Fitness Products the European distributors of the American ‘Lightspace' system; an illuminated floor surface that allows games to be played, using sensitive panels. Reminiscent of playing ‘Quadra PONG' on a floor the system worked intuitively with over 10 different experiences.
From a cardiovascular workout to exercising the brain, Interactive Productline brought their popular ‘Mindball' system, and the new single player ‘Alpha Trainer' unit, that both register the players' bodies' biological signals registering the electro-encephala-gram (EEC) to create movement in a physical ball and corresponding visual display. The new Alpha Trainer seen as a means to expand the applications of the technology.
The interest in Exer-Gaming systems was best illustrated by the youth-oriented game systems such as the Gamercize PlayStation based ‘Gamercize' that linked a console player's physical activity on an exercise device to continue playing. The company had a kiosk version of the system running a PlayStation game powered by the player.
All of these youth-targeted exercise systems, hoping to address the Childhood Obesity problem, were dealt a blow by research conducted by the British Medical Journal. In a report, the UK Government stated that an exercise résumé of three 30-minute sessions of activities per week did little to redress the body mass index.
A 500-participant studied by the University of Glasgow was more favorable. Monitoring children over a year confirmed that physical activity significantly improved motor skills but did not reduce the body index and so did not cut obesity. Skeptics of the study claimed that seven sessions rather than three are needed for a true comparison of body mass. The pressure now placed on the Exer-Gaming community to redress the issue is bound to see an explosion in development.
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