Magic Playground - The Programmable Venue

Parks are stuck with single-use attractions that sit idle half the day and most of the off-season. Magic Playground fixes that. It's the first programmable venue for parks - a walk-in interactive computer display with water fountains, light and sensors that transforms on command: an all-ages wet or dry game by day, a multimedia show at night, a stage for concerts and corporate events on the weekend. Active or passive, wet or dry, every day, all season. One footprint, several businesses - new revenue streams and a far higher return per square meter.

Magic Playground is a single attraction footprint that reprograms itself on demand. At the push of a button, it becomes a splash pad on a summer afternoon, an interactive game arena for families, a choreographed water-and-light show at dusk, or a dry dance floor and event stage at night. We call it the “Programmable Venue”. The floor itself is the medium: a walkable LED video floor from which water fountains or mist rise straight out of the moving image.

What does not exist yet

Today, an operator who wants water play, interactive gaming, a show and an event space needs separate installations – each with its own footprint, budget and fixed function. The closest existing products each cover one piece: illuminated water fountain installations are totally specific, LED game floors are not designed for water play, and conventional splash pads sit idle in the evening, off-season and in bad weather. Magic Playground merges these functions into one surface multiplying their potential. As the attraction is defined by software, it can be reinvented with new content instead of new construction. It’s a fantastic canvas to bring IP to live and can be fully themed.

How it works

High-resolution display: Modular tiles with about 40,000 RGB LEDs per square meter – fully encapsulated beneath a transparent walking surface. About 11.5 million in a tennis court sized version.

Water out of the image: Thousands of fountain nozzles sit inside the display tiles, so jets and mist emerge directly from the picture. Proportional valves vary jet height, synchronized frame by frame with the video.

Drainage through the display: water drains through the light-emitting surface itself, between the LEDs, and leaves the walking surface immediately – without deep channels and without sacrificing resolution. Our patented technology brings 4.000 drainage holes per m² with a structured surface to ensure good ground adhesion and traction even in the wildest game play.

Interaction: Floor sensors detect guests’ steps force and direction, turning visitors into players who chase light or get chased by monsters, trigger fountains and compete in team games.

Safety and Hygiene: Safe low voltage system, no open water surface, closed-loop water circuit with UV-C / ozone disinfection and hydrogen peroxide dosing ensures 100% of the water is treated before being ejected.

Why it belongs in Blue Sky

As the management consultants Mark Wijman and John Collins of AEDP aptly put it: ”It’s not just another ride, not just another slide – this is really new and unique“. Magic Playground simply is kind of a new category and adds a never seen before stage that becomes whatever the operator needs next. Guests experience something they have never seen before: water erupting out of a living image that responds to their steps. Operators gain an asset that works from morning to night and across the seasons – water modes in summer, dry interactive and event modes in spring, fall or after dark – with rental and ticketed events on the same footprint.

Status

Magic Playground is developed and build in Germany, was granted a german patent with an international PCT application pending and a second patent was filed. A working demonstrator – water rising through a live LED image and draining away within the tiles – makes it’s public debut at the WWA Show 2026 in Las Vegas in October. The system is offered in modular sizes such for theme and water parks, FECs, hotels and resorts, cruise ships, shopping centers, also municipal public spaces. An early adopter opportunities programme is offered.