Reigniting interest in a dying sport is no easy task. Much less one that is highly inaccessible.
With expensive game equipment and a limited number of courts (frontons) around the world, Jai Alai’s popularity has diminished over the years. Once described as ballet with bullets, Jai Alai needed to be resurrected.
Enter Jai intensity, an app that consists of AR-gamified workouts that make the sport accessible. Players (pelotaris) are taught the basics of the game, play in “real time” and track their progress any time and anywhere, all with the help of AR technology.
Year
→ 2021
Art Director
→ Goh Reika
Copywriter
→ Sarah Marie Goh
Young Shits
→ Winners, Professional Shit Category
UI/UX
Activation
Challenge
With expensive game equipment, a limited number of frontons (courts) around the world, and a history entangled with gambling, Jai Alai’s popularity has diminished over the years. Once described as “ballet with bullets”, the thrilling
world of Jai Alai needed to be resurrected.
Approach
To bring the sport back to life by making it accessible to all, through a series of AR-gamified workouts. The app, “Jai Alai” will recruit new pelotaris (players) worldwide where they’ll have the opportunity, to learn about the sport and experience exhilarating gameplay all while working out.
Learn
Get familiar with Jai Alai through a series of light training sessions to learn game terms, rules, and basic moves.
The following is an example of what you may find under the “Learn” section.
Learn the lines on the cancha
Watch a short video of pelotaris making use of the court in real life.
Find out what the cancha lines signify in the game.
Get your phone all set up and ready.
Get moving! Tap and go as you recall what you’ve learnt.
Play
After training, it’s time to get playing. Play Jai Alai in real-time matches through a series of AR-led workouts, inspired by classic Jai Alai moves. This is where you'll get tested on your speed, stamina, and agility.
The following is an example of one of the challenges available under “Play”.
Are you ready, pelotari ?
Learn the rules of the challenge.
Get your phone all set up and ready.
Get moving! Bote Proto, an ‘Underhand Catch’ move, will get you down low to hit the pelota ball!
Nice, personal best!
Progress
Track your progress as a pelotari.
Levels achieved are marked by the colour of
your faja sash.
Browse
Browse for ways to improve your gameplay
or search for workouts to target specific muscle groups.
Activation
To raise awareness about Jai Intensity, we create our own mascot to recruit new pelotaris by crashing already popular sport matches. In particular, our mascot would crash sports similar to Jai Alai, such as Racquetball and Baseball.
Dressed in a Jai Intensity jersey, our mascot would don a QR code on his jersey for people to scan and download the app.