With its new Urban Experience Center (UEC), BoldMove Nation hopes to attract visitors, increasing footfall and retention, with fun experiences that cannot be matched from home, leveraging the Marsupilami intellectual property (IP). A combination of VR, AR and mixed reality attractions enable families and friends to spend a few exciting hours in a fun, action-based and immersive themed environment.
Scalable and flexible POP-UP format
Houba City is the first Urban Experience Center launched by BoldMove in close cooperation with partner Mediatoon Licensing. The presented Houba City concept plan features 1,200 to 1,500 square meters (about 13,000 to 16,000 square feet) and comprises 12 media-based attractions while remaining fully scalable to fit smaller or larger spaces. A new approach offered by BoldMove is the distributed pop-up format, allowing shopping malls or other venues to spread attractions over different available or empty spaces. The attractions can be experienced individually but also as part of an exciting adventure trail across the premises. After a certain period, attractions can be replaced or easily moved to other locations, similar to a traveling interactive expo. The BoldMove expert team offers a turnkey service, from master planning, technical and experience design up to implementation, always adhering to quality and safety standards.
Benoit Cornet, CEO of BoldMove Nation, said, “With Houba City, we offer the ideal mix of fun, action and personal growth. We reactivate people with new but proven technologies, challenging and stimulating them in the most engaging way. Marsupilami is a strong and universal IP with interesting multi-faceted characters and an extensive visual library. Not only are they cute and instantly lovable but with their strong personality they are perfectly hosting our guests in Houba City.”
Houba City is designed to challenge visitors to improve personal and creative skills. Upon entering the Palombian Forest via a virtual portal, guests are welcomed by Marsupilami characters. Together they fish from a raft on a rapid VR-river in between piranhas, catch exotic food supplies in a dark ride and VR-escape from dangerous wild animals. Next, the Marsupilami clan discovers the city with the visitor and learns all kind of human creative skills like interactive climbing, fun dancing, singing in karaoke style, visiting the 4D theatre and bringing drawings alive. While utilizing VR, AR and mixed reality technologies, wiring and technical details are all hidden from the eye of the guests.
Challenge yourself to discover your urban style, bolstering personal skills!
Houba City’s focus is on challenging oneself and developing personal and creative skills through activation and education in a fun way. Guests are stimulated to discover their own urban style and creative voice. Houba Academy is an important element where participants can learn how to design comic strips or animated short movies, discover wildlife, take baking classes and much more. This can be organized in regular, weekly sessions allowing visitors to enter into the attraction multiple times.
Jerome Leclercq, CEO of Mediatoon Licensing, stated, “We have been working with the BoldMove team for some time and we are very pleased they created the ideal transmedia solution to unite and mobilize people. Houba City perfectly fits the evolution of our Marsupilami IP, with new games and animation series being internationally released, as well as an extensive merchandising range. Our Marsupilami friends look forward to challenge and entertain many guests at Houba Cities around the world.”
