Helsinki, Finland (June 16, 2022) Today, Valo Motion installed its new immersive Mixed Reality indoor-arena, ValoArena, at Hi-Fly Trampoline Park in Hilden, Germany. Designed for activity parks and other indoor spaces, the freeform game requires no wearables for gameplay, allowing players to enjoy maximum physical activity and social interaction. This is the first ValoArena installation in the world to be built outside of Finland.
Trampoline parks became a big hit in the early 2000s. However, the traditionally non-digital parks now face pressure from their guests aged 4–14. Today, children in this age range are used to high-quality digital games at home, and also demand high-quality digital experiences at trampoline and amusement parks. In addition, millennial parents have different expectations from family entertainment than parents did 15 years ago in that today’s parents want to be more active with their kids and aren’t as happy sitting on the sidelines. Today’s parents are looking for more options where they can also get involved when it comes to kids’ entertainment and activities.
“Trampoline parks became a huge hit fifteen years ago and they originally filled halls with trampolines and let kids bounce around. These days, that business model is evolving as consumer demands change. The original trampoline park concept was somewhat age limited in that, for the most part, younger kids can enjoy the trampolines while parents and other family members couldn’t be as actively involved. Currently, the latest trend we are seeing for parks is what the industry calls ‘multi-activity.’ In order for people to spend more money and time in the parks-and to enjoy them more- parks need to offer more diverse activities than they did in the past. This is why we now see trampoline parks ordering ValoArena,” says Raine Kajastila, CEO of Valo Motion.
According to Valo Motion, feedback from numerous trampoline parks has been that they want to install ValoArena in order to appeal to a wider age range of guests and to offer new activities that appeal to modern parents and kids. Today’s parents value togetherness and time spent together, and many activities have become not just about the children but about the parents, too.
“Today, more and more parents are millennials and they are different from parents 15 years ago. It isn't just the kids. Millennials demand different experiences and have more focus on healthy lifestyles. They don’t want to go to the parks with their kids and just have a snack and stay seated the whole time while the kids go off. They actually want to get involved and play along as well. Adding a game like ValoArena means that everyone can have fun and get involved, and this is a business model that we see more and more of our customers pursuing to keep up with changing times,” says Sven Rösche, Head of Sales at Valo Motion.
According to Lasse Buschmann, CEO of Hi-Fly, the unit was purchased to keep the park’s format modern and relevant for the evolving tastes of their audience.
“We always observe what is happening on the market, and we got ValoArena because it helps us to stay relevant and modern. Today’s kids play a lot on cell phones and screens, and at Hi-Fly, movement is important to us. ValoArena is great because it combines movement with kids’ love of digital entertainment. It’s also a social activity, which makes it really fun for friends and families to do together. ValoArena adds value to our park and ticket prices because it’s easy to access, it has no wearables, and it saves staffing costs,” says Buschmann.