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NDP funpack goes high-tech with app, LED wristband

SINGAPORE — Spectators at this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) at the National Stadium will get to be part of the show itself, as light from their LED wristbands “dance” in various colours and intensity according to the music and light displays.

The NDP Funpack for 2016 will feature interactive elements such as augmented reality (AR) content . Photo: Koh Mui Fong

The NDP Funpack for 2016 will feature interactive elements such as augmented reality (AR) content . Photo: Koh Mui Fong

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SINGAPORE — Spectators at this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) at the National Stadium will get to be part of the show itself, as light from their LED wristbands “dance” in various colours and intensity according to the music and light displays.

“You’re like a pixel forming a part of a massive visual display,” said Military Expert 6 Benny Yong, chairman of the NDP’s logistics and finance committee, on Tuesday (June 7), referring to how spectators’ experience at the parade will be enhanced through technology.

The LED wristband, which is among the items included in this year’s NDP Funpack, will be wirelessly synchronised with the music and light displays during the Aug 9 parade, which has Building Our Singapore of Tomorrow as its theme, and two preview shows in late July.

Around the National Stadium, where the NDP will return to after 10 years, large mosaic artworks will be on display to give visitors a glimpse of past parades. Titled Our Collective Dreams and Aspirations, the murals will have certain trigger points that visitors can scan using their phones and an NDP application, NDPeeps App, to bring up augmented reality (AR) content.

Apart from the LED wristband, this year’s funpack also includes a little souvenir magazine that acts as the programme guide for the parade. Through trigger points in the magazine, spectators can whip out their NDPeeps App to access AR content and travel through time, watching a 3D time-lapse video of the National Stadium’s transformation through the years while staying right in their seats.

“To improve traffic flow, we have decided to place the funpacks at the seats pre-positioned,” said ME6 Yong.

In the past, spectators had to collect their funpacks at designated collection points. Available in both red and white, the funpacks also come loaded with snacks, drinks and other items such as discount booklets, face tattoos and a litter bag.

The NDPeeps App, which will be launched on July 7, will also provide e-versions of a pledge card. The cards were designed specifically for the parade by students from Pathlight School and actor-writer Edmund Chen. For those who wish to physically pen their pledges, the cards will be given out at the National Stadium during the NDP shows.

Mr Sun Yu-Li, the principal artist behind the mural project, noted that with all the economic and scientific developments in the country in the past 50 years, art will be important for the next 50 years where Singaporeans have to “feed the hearts, (as) we need a more inclusive, caring society”.

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