- Altitude Trampoline Park is piloting an IoT-based system from Intelliplay that tracks the location and activity of children as they play, for both security ands gamification.
- The system links digital with physical play by tracking activity levels and displaying the names of the most active children on a leaderboard.
When children wear a wirelessly connected wristband at Altitude Trampoline Park’s Mason, OH site, they are combining old-fashioned, physical jumping with more high-tech digital competition.
The technology—from which Altitude Park has been piloting since August—tracks movement of the children playing there, their time in the park, and even measures and displays their performance levels on a leaderboard.
The solution includes HF RFID readers to log children in and identify them as they enter and leave, and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to communicate with the wrist bands at a distance—capturing the location, the purchased playtime remaining, and the accelerometer-based play level of each child.
The system was deployed not only to automate timekeeping, but to help kids compete and earn points, making each visit to Altitude more engaging, said Chris Kuehn, Altitude Trampoline Park’s chief operating officer. Additionally, parents receive text notifications when their child’s time is about to expire, with a simple process to extend the time via a web app on their phone, and alerts staff and parents if a child attempts to leave the facility.
The entertainment company next intends to roll the system out at its site in Richardson, TX, by early November.
Indoor Park Features Physical Play
Altitude Trampoline Park is owned by Indoor Active Brands, a platform company that focuses on indoor entertainment. It has locations around the country offering jumping as well as other active play. The parks cater to children ages three to 12, with about a dozen attractions that include basketball trampolines, an obstacle course, ziplines, soft-play equipment, and toddler play for the youngest patrons.
The park has been focusing on ways to make the playtime more engaging for the kids, while improving on what had been a manual process of ensuring children don’t overstay their purchased playtime.
“We’re always looking to innovate the guest experience with technology,” said Kuehn. While the park is specifically centered around a physical environment and active play “we do feel there is a role in incorporating technology into that active play to enhance the experience for the children and the parents.”
Technology Startup Delivers Digital Experience
The tech company Intelliplay launched in 2019 and started building the Intelliband product in 2023. “We want to gamify active play,” said Greg Spittle, the company’s co-founder.
They developed the technology to help track the playtime of the child, ensure they don’t leave the site without their parent, but also help kids compete with others and their own previous scores, in ways that aren’t possible in a fully physical world.
Altitude Park was ready to try the technology. “We really like getting people off the couch and into the park and moving,” Kuehn said, “we wanted to incorporate experiences of technology and immersion that elevates engagement with our target audience—children.”
With wristbands already are a key component of the time management, the company was looking for new ideas and innovations in the marketplace that can just elevate that whole process.
Paper System Comes with Limits
Originally when patrons bought play time for their children, they would receive a color-coded paper wristband with a color that corresponded to the time they would need to leave.
The park then used a PA system that helped remind the participants when time was up. For instance, the PA system could announce that all those with red wristbands must leave the area or buy a new ticket and corresponding wrist band.
This forced workers to monitor the play areas to look for anyone who was still playing while wearing the wristband color that indicated their time had expired. It was a complex system, prone to errors and labor intensive for staff.
Altitude Park Replaces Paper Wristbands with Intelliplay bands
The newly-introduced digital system consists of a rechargeable wristband that transmits via HF RFID as well as BLE, and employs a built in accelerometer to measure the jumping activity of the child wearing the band.
Intelliplay offers an API to link its software with the park’s own management software, giving it the ability to access point of sale data about the individual and their payment method as well as the play time they’ve purchased. That data is linked to the unique ID encoded on the wristband.
Once they’re wearing the wristband, the children can go into the play area. The band’s LED light will shine green as long as they are free to play there.
When the time limit approaches—such as within 10 minutes—the wristband light changes to yellow. At the same time, the adult with that child will receive a text message from the park, letting them know the deadline is coming, and inviting them to purchase more time if the child wants to stay longer.
If they make the purchase, the bracelet receives the updated information via the BLE signal and the light returns to green. If they do not purchase more time, the light will turn red, alerting the child to leave the play area.
Gamification
For children, some of the fun comes from the digital gamification displayed in the leaderboard. Each participant gains points for participating. The more they jump the more credit they earn, said Spittle. The credit can extend beyond one visit as well, for children who return to the site later.
At the end of the year, Intelliplay and Altitude Park are planning to offer an app for participants so that they can see their names and scores on the smart phones, even when they are not at the park. Content can include comparisons of their jumping height to the Statue of Liberty or Mount Everest, able to win awards and badges based on their accomplishment.
For parents, the system comes with security benefits since RFID readers at the door identify if the wristband is identified leaving the play area.
“We have an alert mechanism built in for mom and dad,” Kuehn added, not only to alert parents if a child is leaving, but if the child has forgotten to remove their wristband when the family leaves the site.
Operational Benefits
For those working at the park, sales and attendance transactions become easier so that employees spend less time looking for wristbands. The system also drives up sales as parents find it easier to purchase extra time for their children, according to park officials.
Another benefit Altitude Park foresees for the technology will be evaluation of each attraction’s popularity. By knowing where children congregate, when, “we will have a much better understanding of what attractions are being used,” and with that information, “we build the right attractions that are really connecting with the kids and getting the usage… in the past that was more [a matter of] trial and error,” said Kuehn.
So far Kuehn said the feedback he’s gotten is that the kids enjoy the gamification aspect of the system. “They love the leaderboards they like seeing their names, and having the lighted wristbands on their wrist.”