LSN : News : 17 : 01 : 22

Kew Gardens’ educational dining space for kids

Family Kitchen & Shop Kew Gardens by Mizzi Studio, London

London – The public botanic garden is elevating its dining offering for families with an experiential restaurant centred on education and discovery. Created with design practice Mizzi Studio, the Family Kitchen takes inspiration from the fantastical world of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, combined with a ‘nature-led laboratory'.

The space is organised into six learning zones: Spring, Autumn, Diversity, Science, Water and Sun. Through these zones, families can learn about the journey of food from plant to plate, with stories brought to life through interactive LED push buttons and infinity mirror periscopes. The restaurant setting facilitates intergenerational connections and nature-based learning through its Edu-play-tion strategy. Jonathon Mizzi, director of Mizzi Studio, says: ‘Our goal has been to design a space that celebrates nature and learning, helping to make children and parents excited about food growth, hygiene and preparation.’

Such spaces also demonstrate how Discovery Dining can be adapted to appeal to young audiences through stimulating and sensorial placemaking.

Strategic opportunity

Brands across sectors can take inspiration from this concept and design experiences that playfully educate and inspire young people about topics such as sustainability and supply chains

CES 2022: A modular ‘battle station’ for high-level gaming

Project Sophia and Enki Pro HyperSense by Razer, US

Las Vegas – Adapting to the demands of contemporary gamers, consumer electronics company Razer is releasing a modular gaming 'battle station' that raises the bar for at-home play experiences. Known as Project Sophia, this advanced screen and desk provides gamers with a high level of flexibility and haptic feedback.

Alongside a 65- or 75-inch OLED display equipped with Razer’s RGB Chroma lighting, Project Sophia also features 13 different modules and an assortment of accessories. Together, they offer myriad configurations to achieve a personalised set-up for any player. To complement this battle station, the company is releasing the Enki Pro HyperSense gaming chair, which provides more than 65,000 haptic variations to bring game play to life.

As gaming systems become more sophisticated, equipment and stations must keep pace with the level of innovation and immersion gamers expect. While a variety of price points now available to gamers, Project Sophia demonstrates what is possible at the premium end of the spectrum.

Strategic opportunity

With more responsive hardware and accessories, consider how collaborations between video game producers and tech brands could result in more immersive gaming furniture

CES 2022: Withings’ latest scale enables smarter body analysis

Las Vegas – In a bid to improve consumers’ personal weight management, the electronics brand is launching a smart scale that shows how fat is distributed through the body. Using a multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), Withings Body Scan is able to differentiate between a user’s torso, right and left legs, and right and left arms.

It also displays whole-body fat and water percentages, visceral fat, muscle and bone mass and extracellular and intracellular water. Such systems provide an alternative to the commonly criticised system of measuring Body Mass Index (BMI).

Through the use of an app, this consumer-facing product also enables more people to conveniently and accurately monitor their body composition in between visits to health and fitness professionals.

Designed for use at home, the Body Scan shows how cyber-care is evolving to empower people to take care into their own hands through tools and apps, a trend we explore further in Recuperative Living.

The Body Scan by Withings, US

Strategic opportunity

As technologies get smarter and more affordable, beauty and wellness brands can explore how to adapt their professional services into convenient, consumer-facing products

Stat: US consumers welcome brands’ SMS marketing

Paper phone by Google

As smartphone usage continues to rise, a report by Attentive reveals that companies are failing to capitalise on the device’s marketing potential. With the report finding that 90% of consumers are interested in receiving texts from their favourite brands, companies can seize upon this simple way to communicate more directly with customers.

While smartphones have developed drastically in the last decade, the humble text message remains a key feature of these devices. Attentive reports that 90% of text messages are seen within five minutes of receipt. And since most consumers have only one phone number, which they rarely change, SMS messaging is one of the most valuable channels to gather first-party data points.

Text messages can also be used by companies as a loyalty tool. ‘[We have seen] things like discounting work best in order to drive the highest conversion from your traffic on your website, to subscribers opting into your SMS programs,’ explains Annie Roche, SMS strategy manager at Attentive.

With such a high percentage of consumers open to text communication, there is reason to believe that SMS messages can help to transform customer service, cutting straight to the point in the age of digital distractions.

Strategic opportunity

From discount codes to customer feedback and quick-fire marketing, SMS messaging is a no-nonsense tool that can maximise engagement for companies and brands across sectors