Airport Business - 26

CONCESSIONS
with Sony's Playstation and bring the
latest in gaming releases to the lounge.
Passengers can purchase blocks of time
in 30 minutes, one and two hours, or an
unlimited all day pass.
"You get your own station, which
comes with your own 4K TV, your own
HyperX headphones, a charging station
and a luggage compartment. Every
station has its own personal PlayStation 4
Pro with over 30 games pre-downloaded,
and each station has its own dedicated
high-speed internet. So, whether you're
playing online multiplayer or campaign
mode, you'll never have any kind of
lagging whatsoever."
Gameway has been open for two
years and the success of the business
has been great enough to allow the
Walbridges to sign a seven-year lease on
a third location at DFW at Terminal D.
"Consumers are responding to it.
They're loving it and it is welcoming
to everybody. And it is different, so it
doesn't compete with a lot of other things
in airports which would be restaurants,
bars or traditional retail elements. We
don't compete in that space. So, airports
are seeing it and like, 'yeah, this is
something we need to do and we need
to find space for,'" said Walbridge.
The success, Walbridge said, is helped
by DFW's willingness to explore the new
market and embrace the necessity of
providing a positive customer experience.
"With travelers sometimes stuck in
airports for between two to eight hours
at a time, what is it that you can do
in there to really enjoy yourself? And
so, you see this dynamic change, this
big push towards

customer experience in the last several
years. Gameway has just happened to be
on that forefront of what truly a great
customer experience could look like.
"Considering 64 percent of Americans
are playing video games daily, and the
average person who plays video games is
somewhere in their mid-30s, we thought
this was a perfect concept because what
you're trying to do at airports, oftentimes
you're stressed, you're having anxiety, and
when you look at gaming in general, 70
percent are saying that they play because
it does relieve stress and anxiety," said
Walbridge.

Don't get up, get
charged
Space-age technology at the airport isn't
something new, but resting your feet on it
might be. That's the goal of BodyCharger
Systems, the latest offering from Good
Vibrations LLC and founder and inventor
Mark Eberhardt. His invention uses
space age heath technology to stimulate
circulation and keep the body active while
seated and waiting in the airport.
"Whole body vibration (WBV) is
defined as 'the frequency of vibration that
activates muscles to fire involuntarily,"
said Eberhardt. "In the 1960s, Russian
space scientists discovered WBV could
counter atrophy during space travel."
Eberhardt invented the vending
massage chair in 1992 and the business
of placing them in airports and shopping
malls. He became interested in whole
body vibration when researching the
health hazards of prolonged sitting.
"I learned that prolonged sitting and
lack of mobility is the No. 1 contribution
to poor health and illness today. The
human body was
not desig ned
to sit for long
periods. And, It's
the circulatory
s y st em s t h at
d r ives body
health.It's the
foundation
because it sends
ox ygen a nd

One of Gameway's lounges at DFW.
GAMEWAY

26 \ AIRPORTBUSINESS / MAY 2020

The newly
improved
BodyCharger
system.
GOOD VIBRATIONS, LLC

nutrients to the cells and
cleanese them by removing toxins," said
Eberhardt. "Obviously when we travel,
prolonged sitting is unavoidable."
He found that doctors recommend
any activity and low-intensity exercise
before and after traveling to get the blood
going. However, the average person
likely won't be doing calisthenics in the
terminal. So, Eberhart found a way to
bring exercise to the person with the
BodyCharger System.
"The body doesn't care how you
exercise to maintain quality blood
flow, it just wants you to do something.
BodyCharger Systems provides a way for
every person in the airport to enhance
and stimulate blood f low right at their
seat. When travelers place their feet on
the vibration plate, with shoes on, lower
extremity muscles begin to ref lexively
contract at 30 times per second. After
10 minutes or so, your feet can begin to
sweat. As a matter of fact, you can fatigue
muscles to a point where you may not be
able to stand right after the session. You
even feel it even after a couple hours, just
like when you jog," Eberhardt described.
The BodyCharger System is installed
in front of the seating airports already
have. There's no charge to sit at a seat,
but to engage the vibrations and USB
chargers, users must insert cash or
swipe their credit card. Two minutes of
vibration costs $1 and 10 minutes costs $5.
There are no cost to airports.
Eberhardt pays them a share of the
revenue.
"Part of the patented invention is the
fact that we figured out how to make an
airport liability an airport asset, and there
is no buildout or new space required,"
said Eberhardt.
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