完全變態

    Sure, there's something to be said for kids kicking back with unstructured playtime. But today's youth, particularly the tween generation (ages 8 to 12), are more likely to chill out with some type of high-tech gadget in hand. Given this demographic's ever-increasing level of comfort with technology, Motorola and Gensler teamed up to create the ultimate, hands-on learn/play environment -- M-Lab. Located in Sunrise, Fla., within Wannado City, America's first indoor role-playing theme park for kids, the 1,200-sq.-ft. M-Lab is an "edu-tainment" venue that exposes kids to science, technology, and innovation.
    Lea Fasso, Motorola's public relations manager, explains that the company felt the M-Lab project was one that could not be missed. "Wannado City is just down the street from our facility, so it was a perfect fit for our brand as well as a way to expose kids to careers in technology." Knowing the design of M-Lab was critical -- it had to look realistic for savvy tweens to enjoy it -- Motorola was thrilled to have Gensler on board. "It had to be a totally immersive experience. It wouldn't be believable if every design detail wasn't thought through" Fasso remarks.
    Russell Banks, Gensler's creative director for the project based in Santa Monica, Calif., understood M-Lab was a unique opportunity to engage finicky tweens, but also to position the Motorola brand with the uninitiated. "This is anything but mindless entertainment," says Banks. "Motorola gets a huge association with a young audience for its 'cool factor,' but at the same time this definitely isn't a hard sell. There are no cell phones or pagers on display."
    What is on display? Sleek metallic surfaces, edgy environmental graphics, hexagonal assemblies, experiential ambient lab sounds, and other realistic sci-fi touches including lab coats and badges. From the start, tweens can't miss M-Lab's aluminum and Panelite façade, which is lit from within to appear luminescent. The beaconing Motorola "M-signia" extends atop the entryway, and a custom-made circular door-pull recalls Motorola's bat wing logo. "I love that kids don't just wait in line outside, but instead they are immediately queued in the Decompression Zone where their experience begins" notes Banks. The Decompression Zone of which he speaks is actually an angled entry foyer animated by ambient chatter among scientists and other lab noises, and it sets the stage for the engaged learning yet to come.
    Tweens next reach Mission Control, where they are greeted by their "Field Ops Leader" and the voice of "Dr. M." to discover their mission for the day. The now de-briefed "M-Ventors" don lab coats and badges and are ushered through a glowing hexagonal door that swooshes dramatically as they enter the Transition Tunnel leading directly to the M-Lab. This bright white assembly area features rubber flooring and sleek metal fixtures, which imitate a sterile lab environment. Banks states, "It was important that this game-like experience have a cause-and-effect quality. The trial-and-error aspect makes it totally engaging, and the buttons all do something, so there is an immediate reward."
    The final zone, Pod Workstations, features three color-coded, hexagonal pods (matching the kids' badges), designed for four-person teams. Viewing individual monitors and a shared 50-in. monitor at the Control Console, M-Ventors are lead through their mission of problem solving -- whether it's a simulation of being underwater, in space, or at the base of Mt. Everest -- through the use of adjusted graphics, lighting, and sound. Metal walls and a translucent fabric canopy provide the perfect high-tech yet otherworldly backdrop.
    With their job complete, M-Ventors proceed through an exit corridor with light-tape running the length of the side walls and spaceship-like fixtures hanging overhead toward a sign that reads "Mission Accomplished." Once again they hear scientists' voices, this time thanking them for a job well done. With a toss of their lab coats down a chute, they are ushered back into Wannado City. "The headline for me is that companies can create experiences, good or bad, so knowing a physical environment matters is a strong motivator," Banks remarks. The people at Motorola could not agree more. "Kids get it right away, which is more than I can say for their parents" chuckles Fasso. "Adults are always looking for Motorola's cell phones and pagers, whereas the kids are totally immersed, feeling like they are part of a big video game. Not only are they thrilled, but they're learning at the same time."
ADDED MATERIAL
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    Photograph by Adrian Wilson
The Decompression Zone's blue and gray walls (left), bright accent colors, and scientific graphics provide an appropriate transition from the Wannado City into M-Lab. The Motorola bat wing "M-signia" reinforces the brand's presence. Tech-savvy kids enjoy the hands-on learn/play environment (above).
The Transitional Tunnel (above) provides just that -- a transition from the dimly lit Mission Control area to the bright M-Lab. A slight breeze blows while ambient sounds build excitement for the task ahead. Pod Workstations (left) feature joysticks, trackballs, button controls, individual monitors, and a shared 50-in. central monitor. The windows and large monitor play a realistic movie of the M-Ventors' mission, while integrated speakers feature corresponding sounds.
Raised flooring with integrated floor transducers allow a deep rumble to be felt when "M-ventors" reach their virtual destination. Hexagonal assemblies provide transitions between each zone.
Pod workstations are color coded to match children's badges. Metal walls reinforce the high-tech theme and a translucent fabric canopy-like structure on each pod is backlit to emit a soft glow.

Title: Teens and `tweens are the latest design niche Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA), May 15, 2003 
Database: Newspaper Source 
 

Is room decor the next hot thing for teens and tweens?

    For sure, they won't stop flocking to the malls or instant messaging any time soon. But new furnishings and TV shows on room makeovers that reflect their style and interests are targeting them big time.

    These entries are filling an emerging niche in the market "and ... could gain a lot of momentum," said Greg Livingston of the Cincinnati youth-marketing firm WonderGroup. "We've seen that in the food category, where ketchup that was green in a bottle shaped for kids grew the category."

    Big bucks are at stake. About $17 billion will be spent this year on teen and tween rooms, or $386 per youngster, Livingston said. That's about double the amount spent less than a decade ago. It includes what kids (ages 8 to 18), their parents and grandparents spend, and includes electronics but not the cost of outfitting a dorm or another room away from home.

    Some of the latest youth-decor products and programming include:

    -PBteen, a room-furnishings catalog from Pottery Barn. "You, your friends, your space" is its mantra as it portrays teens grooving to tunes in rooms decorated with everything from cushiony rocker-chairs and shadowbox headboards to camouflage bedding and zodiac-themed pillows. Pottery Barn expects to draw kids ages 10 to 18. The catalog makes choosing decor fun with features such as its personality quiz ("Are you the Sweetest Thing? Or Step-Off Sassy?"), which helps readers find their "personal style."

    -"Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls," modeled after the Learning Channel megahit but with kids switching rooms. Target audience is 8- to 12-year-olds, but the show, debuting May 17, is expected to play well above and below that range, said Marjorie Kaplan of Discovery Kids, which developed the show. The original "was drawing strong kid numbers without trying, so we thought, `What else should we be doing with this?' " she said.

    -Room makeovers for teens will be the subject of "Knock First," airing this fall on ABC Family cable network.

    -Hasbro's ThinTronix line of poster phones and radios. This hybrid is a poster with thin electronics on its back. Its face is touch-sensitive, so the youngster can work either the poster/speaker phone or the poster/FM radio without other buttons or switches. "Big portions of where kids spend their time is their rooms," Hasbro's Sharon John said of the tweens to whom the products are geared. "So the concept arose: What if we could create something to enhance that environment with something they love-music, communications, fashion?"

    "Twenty years ago," said Livingston , "you'd put a few posters up in your room, and keep the same furniture from age 8 until college." Now, kids may get new furniture at 14 or 15, or a new desk and storage for a computer, or new furnishings because they like decorating.

    The trend, he said, is enhanced by a parenting style attuned "to making kids happy."

    At Delia's, where "roomwares" for teens debuted in 1998, sales of such products have grown by double digits per year, said general merchandise manager Gideon Walter, who expects to expand the category in its retail stores and catalogs.

    Just over a year ago, Wal-Mart realized tweens had their own tastes in furnishings. Since focusing on them, the chain has found the same success with furnishings that it enjoys with apparel, said spokeswoman Melissa Berryhill.

    In the last few years, Brewster Wallcovering has geared some of its funkier children's designs to tweens and found that they've become some of the company's better-selling patterns, said creative services manager Paula Berberian.

    Why tweens? Because they're a market of about 19.5 million, and have about $10 billion a year in disposable income, said Livingston, who with his WonderGroup partners has written "The Great Tween Buying Machine: Marketing to Today's Tweens." They're also very influential in other family spending.

    "The whole tween movement is particularly geared to girls," Berberian said. "They're savvy customers and are very into how they look and how their rooms l