First avatar in the stadium: "Rapidini" fulfills heart's desires
He looks like an oversized baby monitor and "telepresence robot" doesn't really sound sexy. But the avatar "Rapidini" is not ridiculous, but offers seriously ill children a special stadium experience.
Rapid Vienna's latest signing is making headlines: Not Neymar, but an avatar is the new star at the Austrian record champion. He is neither halfway properly animated like Mark Zuckerberg's meta version nor able to move through virtual worlds. He's just a gray technology blob that remotely resembles a head. But the idea behind it is nicer than any metaverse: "Rapidini" gets seriously ill children out of isolation and into the middle of the action.
More than a marketing gag
The device made 9-year-old Mu-Hao happy at its stadium premiere. Thanks to "Rapidini," he was able to take a look behind the scenes of his favorite club this weekend and, among other things, run into the stadium with player Jonas Auer. "I got to watch the match alongside the players and coach. I felt as if I had played together with Rapid," the boy, who is currently recovering from a hospital stay, let slip in the club's press release.
Source: SK Rapid/Red Ring Shots
A telepresence robot like "Rapidini" can not only provide emotional highlights, but also enable sick children to participate more in everyday life. At school, for example. With an app as the interface, images and sound are transmitted. The child can control movement and direction of gaze, adjust the volume of speech and express emotions such as joy, sadness and confusion through the avatar's eyes.
Not every innovation in the soccer stadium is a good idea. This project under the umbrella of "Rapid leben" is. Presumably, "Rapidini" laughed a lot over the weekend.
Titelbild: SK Rapid/Red Ring Shots
Simple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.