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Japanese television network claims over 1M participants in interactive TV game

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Last week we told you a little about TeamLab’s social instrument technology being implemented during Nippon Television Network’s 60th anniversary special. That event took place this past weekend, and the idea was to turn the scheduled musical performance from boy-band Arashi into a nation-wide interactive rhythm game where fans could use their mobile phones, computers, or even their TV remote controls to keep up with the beat visualized on screen. It appears that in terms of participation the game was a success. The network claims that 1.3 million viewers took part in the game – which is more than 1% of the entire Japanese population. (Of course, given how fabricated Japanese pop is these days, I don’t think it’s beyond belief that this number might be fabricated too!) Admittedly, the game play was ridiculously simple, but it was certainly a fun step in making live TV broadcasts more interactive. I wonder if we might see something like this appear in a Superbowl halftime show in the future? TeamLab has been responsible for some amazing digital feats in the past, and we encourage you to check out their website to learn more about past exhibitions and projects. Update July 10: We…

Last week we told you a little about TeamLab’s social instrument technology being implemented during Nippon Television Network’s 60th anniversary special. That event took place this past weekend, and the idea was to turn the scheduled musical performance from boy-band Arashi into a nation-wide interactive rhythm game where fans could use their mobile phones, computers, or even their TV remote controls to keep up with the beat visualized on screen.

It appears that in terms of participation the game was a success. The network claims that 1.3 million viewers took part in the game – which is more than 1% of the entire Japanese population. (Of course, given how fabricated Japanese pop is these days, I don’t think it’s beyond belief that this number might be fabricated too!)

Admittedly, the game play was ridiculously simple, but it was certainly a fun step in making live TV broadcasts more interactive. I wonder if we might see something like this appear in a Superbowl halftime show in the future?

TeamLab has been responsible for some amazing digital feats in the past, and we encourage you to check out their website to learn more about past exhibitions and projects.

Update July 10: We followed up with the folks at TeamLab to find out their reactions to the performance. While I was a little skeptical about the numbers Nippon Television Network was claiming, TeamLab says they’re accurate, and points us to further stats from the live event over at ntv.co.jp/musicday/result. We’ve translated it below.

So what’s the next step for this interactive TV technology? A TeamLab rep says they’d love to further evolve it, and they’ve gotten lots of new ideas as a result of this particular experience. As for future events, TeamLab tells me their door is always open to new clients and interesting new projects!

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Annotated translations by SD