The Future is now...
New Year, New You, New ways to get there...gaming!
At the end of 2020 I wrote about gaming and how it is weaving it’s way into our everyday lives particularly around retail. The new year brings on a gluttony of articles and advertising around resolutions and ways to start the new year as a new you - this year is no different (being possibly the one thing that has NOT changed due to the pandemic!)
Here we take a quick look at wellness and gaming - for a different take on the tried and true new years resolution thinking.
Popular apps that have focused on mindfulness and meditation have recently moved beyond being subscription app-based to partner with streaming services. Examples include CALM and HBO Max as well as Headspace and Netflix.
The New Year always brings on a desire to start fresh and re-think, re-align goals that may have gotten off track during the holiday season. 2020-2021 is no different! I’m sure we have all found in our streaming apps, programs, and articles encouraging us to try a new program, a new system a new app. Yet there are some difference this year apps such as Exhale focus on diversity by introducing targeted and bespoke meditation platforms “that sets out to serve and heal Black, Indigenous and Women of Color (BIWOC) through exercises such as Soul Medicine Meditation and Ancestors Guided Imagining.” -stylus
Exhale App
In my previous post I noted the metaverse and its level of engagement, along with unique retail opportunities. Exercise and wellenss are also moving into the metaverse through apps such as Supernatural.
With Supernatural, subscription based work-out game, the user wears an Oculus headset and is then immersed into epic landscapes (such as Machu Picchu or the Galapagos Islands) then is coached though a course of dodging obstacles and smashing missiles. Combining the idea of gaming with some level of physical activity.
Will this be successful? Will we all be smashing missiles in a virtual Machu Picchu? Probably not, but what this does is open possibilities of so much more. Remember, people have not changed but our behaviors have been drastically impacted by the pandemic and there are many more early adopters than ever before particularly among people who were never considered early adopters in the past.
Making those of us that work in the consumer space, think differently and work differently to create new innovations.
Looking forward to more discovery + innovation!
Julie Dugas One of the Heads
Studio | H2G
I’m one of the heads at Studio | H2G - I’m not a writer (which you may have picked up on quickly!) I am passionate about the business of retail, consumer behavior, trends and conversations around that thinking.