HUNDREDS of Port MacDonnell and surrounding community members have been roaming the foreshore with life-size robots while training dragons and collecting kittens.
Grant District Council and Port MacDonnell Tourism Association celebrated the launch of the Magical Park app on Tuesday evening, with Santa Claus arriving by boat for the event finale.
The app is the world’s first digital playground using augmented reality to get kids off the couch and active outside in a safe park space.
Grant District Council community development coordinator Jayne Miller said the idea was a unique way for visitors and residents to explore the area.
“It is something completely different that no council in the Limestone Coast has done yet,” Ms Miller said.
“The best part is the app is free and gets kids engaged with their devices while playing outside.
“It is a bit of a novelty really.”
The app will be available for the next 12 months.
“The app will be updated every six weeks and a fresh round of games will be added,” Ms Miller told The Border Watch at the event.
“It encourages everyone to keep coming back to the area and trying new games.
“We had over 400 people registered to attend the launch day.”
Ms Miller said the team would have been happy with 50 attendees.
“We have heard people have been having a great time,” she said.
“It is a fantastic community event with multiple community groups involved.
The idea for the app was spearheaded by Ms Miller.
“We were thinking about the recently established Waterfront project and were looking for something that would really activate the whole space,” she said.
“I was just playing around and googling different ideas and came across the app.
“I did a bit of research and then pitched the idea and it went from there.”
The app data will be sent for analysis over the 12 month period to assess whether the program should be revamped and repeated.
“We may even move it to another part of the area within the Grant District Council to attract further tourist attraction,” Ms Miller said.
She encouraged people to try the app by visiting the Port MacDonnell foreshore and looked forward to directing people to other areas of the Limestone Coast to explore the region.
