Fact or Fake
Can an interactive shop window make Ludwigsburg’s city centre more attractive? We asked ourselves this question in an interdisciplinary workshop with the City of Ludwigsburg, the Luis city centre association and Bechtle AG. After intensive brainstorming, the idea for the “Fact or Fake” application was born, which we designed and implemented as a pilot project within the innovation network.
Rethinking the city centre
The City of Ludwigsburg’s innovation network is an alliance of politics/administration, industry and science. With over 300 network partners, it tests technical solutions, services and business models to strengthen Ludwigsburg as a business location. In the “Interactive Shop Window” project, a four-day workshop focused on retail — hit particularly hard by Covid — and asked representatives of retail, gastronomy and the tourism association: how can city centres become more attractive again and offer added value over online shopping?
Together with Bechtle AG, the Ludwigsburg innovation network and the city centre association, the idea of the interactive shop window was quickly born. But how can users outside interact and communicate with the window display inside? And all without hurdles — no app download, no registration, just start playing. The game principle also had to be as simple and instantly understandable as possible, appealing to young and older audiences alike.
Guess, score, win
For the first pilot we chose an interactive Ludwigsburg quiz in which players use their own smartphone as the input device. Scan the QR code and off you go!
Players receive four randomly selected statements and must decide whether each is fact or fake. Every correct answer earns 100 points — plus a time bonus depending on speed. Answer all questions quickly and correctly and you can enter the high-score list and win a prize.
The interactive shop window was received very positively by visitors to Ludwigsburg’s city centre, and regional and national press reported on the project. To top it off, the City of Ludwigsburg reached the semi-finals of the European Capital of Innovation Award 2021.
To the CMT with THE LÄND
The pilot project convinced — and was further developed for Tourismus Marketing GmbH Baden-Württemberg in the style of the state campaign THE LÄND. The quiz received a completely new look and has already been deployed several times at CMT in Stuttgart, the world’s largest public trade fair for tourism and leisure — same principle: pull out your smartphone, scan the QR code, play along.
A great success
Bottom line: a great success for everyone involved. We are already looking forward to evolving the pilot project — and hope to bring many more interactive shop windows to life in Ludwigsburg.
