CEBU -- Back in pre-internet days, parents would practically drag their children from outside to inside the house because kids back then spend hours playing on the streets. Today's modern parents, on the other hand, frustratingly beg their children to at least play a few hours under the sun just to separate them from their beloved gaming consoles, phones, and tablets.

Times have changed indeed and even the most traditional of children recreational activity is catching up—the playground.

While classic playgrounds still exist, there's a new kind of playground that caters to the modern kid.

Enter Playlab, a playground that combines technology and physical play in one modern and cool package.

Located at Level 1 of Robinsons Galleria Cebu, it is the first of its kind in the country. Opened last December, Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) describes the facility as an interactive digital playground that offers a new, unique bonding destination that is safe, wholesome, and photogenic.

“Some say we marry the physical and digital worlds of play. But to me, to be technical about it, we offer physical and technology-based playing aids for kids,” explained RLC new businesses director Darwin Remolayan

Targeted at kids three to 10 years old, RLC hopes to create the future of playgrounds.

“The reactions of our customers are overwhelming, they like the idea of a digital playground. For us it confirms where the industry is going, as far as commercial playground is concerned,” he said.

Video projections

Playlab features 14 attractions carefully put together in a safe and modern 850-square meter space. Using available technology, from hardware to software, the facility is the modern interpretation of a playground.

But it also borrows a thing or two from the traditional. For instance, the entire space's floor is covered with an artificial grass turf carpeting that mimics outdoor playgrounds' natural grass turf. It also features advanced versions of a sand box and a slide, both classic attractions of a traditional playground.

Hard surfaces and corners are also padded, for safety reasons, since the whole digital playground is indoor and a bit dark. All walls are painted black making video projections pop out from the dark.

The layout is similar to an arcade but with less physical machines. It's a more open space that is dominated with video wall projections and interactive workspaces.

One of the notable attractions is called Quantum Space, an interactive video projection display that lets the kids immerse in its beautiful light streaks, fire flows, meteor shower, aurora light, or streams of fluid. It uses motion detection technology that tracks the movements of the visitors that get reflected on the video projection.

Another is the Music Wall, one of the simpler yet entertaining attractions. It's a wall of musical instrument illustrations that interacts when touched. These instruments light up and play their distinct sounds when tapped by hand.

One of the attractions that require more physical interaction is the Head Rush, where kids can go on a virtual race with an opponent using 3D and motion tracker technology.

Motion tracker technology

Meanwhile, the Save the Reef activity requires kids to throw soft plush balls onto a screen with an underwater reef-like interactive video projection display. The goal is to hit the trash that floats in the reef with the fish. The trash disappears when hit.

Then there's the Tangram, a puzzle game where kids need to solve geometric puzzles of rockets and spaceships on a touchscreen table. When solved, the rockets get “launched to space.”

A similar attraction called the Butterfly Garden lets kids color their own butterfly on a touchscreen workspace and let them fly in a projected virtual butterfly garden.

There's also the Live Forest, an activity where kids can color animals using the traditional method of crayons and paper then watch it come “alive” in the digital forest.

The other attractions include: Poppin' Pond (slide with interactive video projection), Sand Box (augmented reality topography), World of Zodiacs (become your own zodiac sign), Light Brite (create patters with acrylic pegs on a backlit wall), Tap 'n Glow (touch sensitive light wall), Room Racers (real-time digital racing), and Growth Chart (height measurement using technology).

These attractions were developed with a third-party contractor that specializes in digital technology. Most of the activities are also powered by Microsoft's Xbox Kinect technology, a popular motion tracker device used in gaming. But RLC made sure that the attractions are both fun and educational, as well as catering to different types of kids.

Teaching playground

“There's a third party company that helped developed Playlab. Some of the attractions were developed by media artists abroad, one came from Russia, one from Canada, one from Switzerland, and one local. And it uses common technology, it's just a matter of coming up with an attraction and putting it all together,” Remolayan said.

He also said that the developer worked with psychologists to create attractions appropriate to kids.

“The way the attractions are put together are well-curated in such a way, it taps into different types of children mentality. It's very varied now. So we have an attraction that caters to creative kids, for hyperactive children, musically inclined children, those inclined to science. It's a teaching playground,” shared RLC corporate public relations director Roseann Villegas.

Attractions will be constantly replaced once interest drops. New tech is also in the pipeline like possible mobile apps and the team is also studying the attractions' connectivity to social media.

“Forced obsolescence, if children loses interest on a certain attraction, we will cut it immediately and replace it with another attraction. We have new attractions already in the pipeline, it's just a matter of waiting it out,” Remolayan said.

Weekday rate is at P200 for two hours and P250 during weekends. Kids 6 years old below must be accompanied by an adult.

Soon in Manila

They also plan to open Playlab in various malls as well. Targeted to open within the year are branches in Robinsons Galleria Ortigas, Robinsons Magnolia, Robinsons Place Manila, and the soon-to-open Robinsons Galleria South in Las Pinas.

What Playlab has created is a space where modern kids can enjoy technology-based activities they are familiar with but also the valuable interaction with other kids.

“If you're alone, you can be entertained by the attractions but the experience is multiplied if you share the playground with your peers. You can have fun by your lonesome but it's a different kind of fun when you're playing with other kids,” Remolayan ended.