The Interactive Punching Bag for Dutch NGO, Fight Cancer, lets people “punch cancer in the cells to raise funds for cancer research”. Whack it and see cancer cells die.
The punching bag, developed by creative entrepreneur, Thijs Biersteker, and creative digital production company MediaMonks, is an interactive game in which people punch developing cancer cells to destroy them.
The installation consists of a punchable screen made from over four thousand LEDs. The screen senses the strength and location of a punch and reacts with direct audio feedback in a 3D soundscape designed by strategic music agency, Amp.Amsterdam.
Each participant programs in his/her sex, age and lifestyle (healthy to unhealthy) then starts punching the cancer cells that represent his/her cancer risk. The bag lights up locally to visualise the impact of each punch. The bag shows the rate at which cancer can grow, and allows people to do fight it – metaphorically during the game and afterwards by donating to Fight Cancer’s cause.
Fight Cancer is a Dutch charity organisation that enables people to set up their own fundraising activities for cancer research.
Thijs Biersteker commented, “I’m not a doctor or a scientific genius, so when a loved one becomes ill, I feel like a bystander. With this interactive punching bag you can really join them in their fight by stepping in the ring and punch cancer in the cells, raising funds for cancer research punch by punch.”
Joris Pol, partner and executive producer at MediaMonks added, “The punching bag is a powerful metaphor for the fight against cancer, so we wanted it to be able to take the full brunt of people’s punches and power. In general, this type of reactive, physical device gets handled with kid gloves instead of boxing ones, so to have something that is literally there to be hit as its core functionality was great to showcase how robust this type of experience can be.”
Fight Cancer director, Limore Noach, noted, “To us, the punching bag demonstrates that we can all do something as individuals in the fight against cancer. By combining our efforts, we can help accelerate the progress in cancer research.”
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The installation was designed as a prototype for the opening of the Creative Press Challenge, a competition where young creatives are invited by Dutch media company de Persgroep to make their best work for a great NGO. It will now travel from gym to gym across the Netherlands in an effort to gather a bigger crowd in support of the fight against cancer.
