A brand-new, visitor-focused game room has opened on the open-to-the-public second floor of DFS Galleria in Waikiki, but you won’t find a "QuadAir Hockey" table or "Space Invaders" arcade game inside.
Hilton Grand Vacations has launched iQ Hawaii, an interactive touch-screen game and gaming space, developed with Honolulu-based Clarence Lee Design & Associates LLC and Tokyo-based GK Tech Inc., a company that designs software and technology systems and equipment for work and play.
The free gaming is designed to promote Hawaii and Hilton Grand Vacation’s time shares.
The iQ Hawaii space has 10 screens that offer three interactive, Hawaii-themed games — one randomly selected game each day. Each game tests players’ knowledge of Hawaii and rewards them with a daily iQ Hawaii score. Players can take a picture to create a personalized scorecard — what "real" gamers and social network users might call an avatar.
The games can be played in English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese — a good thing, considering that DFS Galleria Waikiki is the largest DFS store in the world.
"With the diverse customer base at DFS, it was important to make the games available in multiple languages," said Daniel Dinell, vice president-regional marketing and development for Hilton Grand Vacations.
Meanwhile, back to iQ Hawaii. "Results can also be posted on various social media channels, which can be a fun way for participants to share their experience with friends and family," Dinell said.
The Twitter account @iQHawaii was locked as of Tuesday afternoon, and the iQ Hawaii Web page said it was "coming soon," but the game’s Facebook page for results-sharing and any competitive, fun trash-talking between players is up and running.
This is flu season, and Hawaii has seen cases of the Sydney norovirus strain, so health officials are adamant about preventing contagion, and these are touch-screens we’re talking about.
There are no plans at the moment to offer hand-sanitizer dispensers, according to a resort company spokeswoman, but she added that officials are looking into providing such products.
In the meantime, gamers are encouraged to bring their own hand-sanitizing products or to thoroughly wash their hands after doing the interactive touch-screen thing.
Clarence Lee Design was tasked with creating the overall look and concept for the iQ Hawaii promotion for Hilton Grand Vacations, while GK Tech oversaw development of the interactive games.
The Japanese-based tech company has an English-language version of its website that displays mind-blowing interactive technology.
If, for instance, you were wowed by the "magic table" on "Hawaii Five-0" that allows users to fling images from the horizontal touch-screen table onto a vertical wall display, your jaw will drop all the more perusing the GK Tech site.
It shows installations of interactive screens that don’t even need to be touched in order to interact with users; robotic birds; a floor that lights up with fake "lightning bugs" as weight is applied; and more.
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On the Net:
» www.dfsgalleria.com
» www.hiltongrandvacations.com
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Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.
