biba: an app that creates treasure maps and obstacle courses within playgrounds

Matt Toona thinks his new smartphone app will help kids get up from the couch and into the playground, but once Biba is launched in January, he finds that his biggest selling point is not at all
Municipalities and school boards have invested heavily in playground equipment, but little is known about who uses, when and how they are used.
\"This is such a strange black hole,\" said Biba CEO and B Toner . \"C.
Candidate for the 2013 Vancouver False Creek NDP.
\"Will bparts download the free Biba app to their smartphone for a set of scavenger hunt, obstacle classes, treasure maps and other games.
Parents take the phone, the children run, jump, play.
If it\'s Biba playground
Six \"augmented reality markers\" enabled, six
Square inch panel features that come with playground equipment, such as QR codes, can trigger animations, new tasks, prizes.
For example, when a parent scans a marker using a smartphone camera, a virtual baby robot may appear to have the child \"collect \".
Biba works with PlayPower, a global playground manufacturer whose brands include entertainment equipment, small Tikes playcial, Hags Play and Soft Play. North Carolina-
Responsible for sales, marketing and distribution based on PlayPower, while 10-
Staff in Vancouver
Headquartered in Biba, responsible for taking care of the digital end and getting the cost of each installation from PlayPower.
So far, the United States has installed Biba on 50 playgrounds. S. and Canada.
There is no Biba playground in Area B. C.
Lynne Vandeveer, chief marketing officer at PlayPower, said that while competitors have \"eaten away\" the ability to integrate digital and physical games, most existing solutions require power, which
\"All these places are concerned about keeping maintenance costs low.
The advantage of Biba is that it doesn\'t need Wi-
The Fi connection or any form of electricity is brought to the playground.
Nothing to break.
It uses technology in every parent\'s pocket or wallet.
To Vandeveer\'s surprise, access to data rather than game value has become the main reason why customers sign up.
\"It helps them make informed decisions about how to invest in public funds in industries without rich data . . . . . . You said you could really tell me ,(how)
My investment in this playground equipment is actually being used, and how often and how many times?
These analyses are what our customers really respond.
\"Due to the cost of collecting data, statistics on park use are lacking in all cities,\" said Tiina Mack, Park development Vancouver park council manager.
Most of the data available are observational.
The Vancouver Park Council manages 180 playgrounds, spoke with Biba and similar companies, and will seek feedback from residents and stakeholders on the playground update this fall.
\"We see the advantages of these apps, but we also see that our focus is on creative games, natural games, open games, and non-
Programming games, \"says Mike, landscape designer.
So far, Gervais has had to use census materials and visit the playground on its own.
\"I brought my niece and nephew.
I said, \'Go and play with the splash pad and we\'ll talk about it.
I sit there and watch the parents and children and the equipment they use the most.
\"In any case, parents usually sit in the suburbs and play with their mobile phones,\" Gervais said . \".
\"Parents must now interact with their children.
They have to get off the bench and the kids have to run out and come back and do interactive things.
\"The data collected by Biba is encrypted, anonymous and divided into large geographic areas, in line with the requirements of the country and the United States. S.
Privacy standards for children.
\"We are trying to develop non-prescriptive games, but provide a scene that will naturally make children active,\" said Nis Bojin, senior product designer at Biba . \".
Bojin has a PhD in interactive design and focuses on \"serious\" or educational games.
In a game, parents and children may create a contest course that lets the child run to various playground equipment and then go back to the parents when the phone \"becomes\" a pit stop.
\"If you are a car, what do you need at the moment?
Sometimes the phone is the embodiment of the Ratchet and tells you what body parts to fix --
Elbow or neck.
You press the button and it vibrates or makes a sound. The three-to-
They think it\'s funny, \"said Borgin.
A child may blow to the phone in order for the engine to catch fire.
\"We use the microphone threshold algorithm so it knows when someone is blowing the microphone,\" Bojin said . \".
Biba was originally conceived by student intern Ryan Nadel as a school program.
Biba turned it into a consumer. ready product.
\"We are not trying to solve the problem of children who are already playing outside.
\"This is a solution for kids who don\'t do it,\" Bojin said . \".
According to the aJuly 2016 participant action report, only children between the ages of 5 and 11 in Canada were given a minimum recommendation of 60 minutes per day for moderate to vigorous physical activity, Bojin said.
Bojin says it usually takes 10 to 20 cents on screen to play Biba compared to physical games.
The price tag for Biba\'s six augmented reality marks is $1,300. S.
In contrast, a small, free
The slump is generally $2,250 to $3,350. S.
Vandeveer says the cost of building an entire playground varies greatly from $15,000 to $ million.
But data is not a key selling point for all municipal customers.
Kim Becker of Henderson Public Works, Parks and Entertainment, Nevada, said that the product\'s ability to collect data \"did not affect our decision at all\", which installed a Biba-
Start the playground in May.
\"It\'s a great reward for some playground equipment that we really like.
\"This fall, Biba will work with the Department of Cognitive Psychology at Simon Fraser University to verify one of their central premise that when using Biba games on the playground, children play longer,
The company also intends to design inclusive games for children with different disabilities.