The University of Michigan-Flint Recreation Center has obtained a new interactive game wall featuring a variety of sports and party games. The game wall is located in room 120 on the main floor of the Recreation Center. The new “game room” is now open for use and reservation.
The wall itself is 13 feet wide with a nine-foot-tall metal frame equipped with sensors to detect hands or soft sports balls that touch the wall. A projector is used for the system’s display, projecting directly onto the room’s brick wall and inside the wall’s frame. Stulock said, “The size and scale of this screen is set up to encourage movement.” The system has many different games that vary in genre, some more educational, quiz-like, specific sports games that allow you to improve your accuracy, as well as party games for larger groups.
When it comes to the room itself, it is intended to be multi-purpose, but still centered around the use of the new wall. Stulock said there will be new furniture and other tabletop games incoming for the room as “things to do while others use the wall.” The furniture includes short barriers to ensure balls thrown or hit into the wall don’t get too far from it.
Funding was allocated to the Recreation Center after the pool closure. Stulock said funding was given by the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Christopher Giordano. The total received from the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs for overall space improvements was $90,000. The cost of the interactive game wall itself was $19,000.
