Event: Great Street Games 03/11/2009

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Event: Great Street Games

NICKY ASHWELL, WGSN 03.11.09

In a world first, three north-east England locations participated in a hi-tech athletics

tournament that used projected light and thermal imaging to create an interactive gaming
arena.
The Great Street Games took place nightly October 29-November 1 with simultaneous events that
pitted Gateshead, Middlesbrough and Sunderland against each other. Devised by digital art
pioneers KMA as part of the Bupa Great North Run Cultural Programme - an annual series of
events and artistic commissions that celebrate the partnership between sport and art - the focus of the
games was on audience participation and sensory engagement.

Great Street Games

KMA is a partnership between Kit Monkman and Tom Wexler. Their mission is to heighten audience
experience by applying digital innovation to live, large-scale environments. Future projects include a
commission for the 2012 London Olympics.

Great Street Games

The 'courts' on which the games took place were defined by projected light and each had a central
playing area and two zones to represent the courts in the other two locations. In the centre of each court
balls of light were simulated and could be moved when physically interacted with by the

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Event: Great Street Games 03/11/2009

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players. The aim of the game was for each location's team to move as many balls as possible to the
other locations' courts. Each game was 90 seconds long and there were five games in a series, with the
rules becoming increasingly complex as players adjusted to their gaming environment.

Great Street Games

Beth Bate, Cultural Programme manager, commented: "The Cultural Programme is all about getting
people inspired and involved and Great Street Games does just that. This is a world first that takes
art and sport to the streets."
The interactive, technologically advanced nature of this event adheres perfectly to WGSN's Sensory
trend for spring/summer 2011, creating a new sporting environment that stimulates sensory as well
as physical activity.

Links
www.greatstreetgames.org.uk
www.greatnorthrunculture.org
www.kma.co.uk
Related reports
Active Sports Early Research: Sensory, spring/summer 2011
New York trend track: bringing gaming back outside
All images copyright of Craig Connor/North News

WGSN 2009

http://www.wgsn.com/members/active-market/sports/as2009nov03_089757

12/02/2010