Snow at NOMA!

This past weekend, our family went to the New Orleans Museum of Art  (one of our favs!) to see the Disney Exhibit before it leaves in 3 weeks (see that post yesterday)

Upon arriving we saw something was being set up on the front lawn, but wasn't sure what it was. We asked inside and none of the volunteers knew either. Oh well we said...

Then we got through at the museum and walked outside and what did my daughter see and say?


"SNOW"

Yup, there in a ring was 6 inches of snow surrounded by balloons and the smell of popcorn! So you KNOW we had to go over right????

Sponsored by Rosetta, The Snow Day in New Orleans was meant to introduce snow to kids who may have never seen it (now of course caveat being that when Rosetta first began their promotion, they had no idea it was gonna SNOW for real in New Orleans TWICE before the event! But kudos for the thought!). They had a gorgeous 6 inches of prime snow made from blocks of ice (pretty cool!) and Frosty the Snowman welcoming kids to the ring!

As you can see by the photos, my daughter greatly enjoyed herself! All the kids had a great time with snowball fights and just running amok in the snow, as you can tell by ALL that flying snow in the pix above!

Also provided were coloring stations with Frosty and Penguin pictures to color. Also a hit, as you can see!

They also had hot chocolate to warm up with, as well as smores (!!) and popcorn. the kids had a blast! The popcorn went a long way, as we shared it with the ducks at city park as well (post on that will be tomorrow!).

So why did Rosetta sponsor the snow day?

Rosetta, the nation's largest independent interactive advertising agency, sent out a holiday card to their clients and friends beginning on December 15th, 2009, that featured a new augmented reality technology. The card, which combined motion detection and facial recognition elements, challenged recipients to collect a million digital snowflakes with their tongues, which would in turn, benefit New Orleans youth by providing the snow day. The millionth snowflake was caught on Dec. 21st, only SIX days after the card went out-pretty cool!


Augmented reality is a term for a live view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery, creating a mixed reality. For Rosetta's holiday card, the agency developed an algorithm that is able to detect, as accurately as possible, when a person's mouth is open and when his or her tongue is stuck out. According to Rosetta, this is the first time augmented reality technology has been able to distinguish a feature as intricate as a person's tongue against the background of a human face. Rosetta created the motion detection and facial recognition technologies using flash and combined the elements in a way that allows them to work in sync and form a game.

When the recipient opened the card, he or she could play an interactive game that involves catching falling snowflakes. The game is designed to automatically launch a viewer's webcam when the player hits "play." The player is asked to stick out his or her tongue, and the new augmented reality technology tracks the player's tongue movements with his or her head and shoulder movements. Each time a player's tongue catches a snowflake on the screen, a point will be added to the automatically updated tally that shows how many snowflakes have been caught by all card recipients. You can view the original card here at http://holiday.rosetta.com/snowday/.

When one million snowflakes are captured, Rosetta would sponsor a "snow day" for New Orleans children who have never experienced a snow day. AND they did!You can tell my the smile on my daughter's face after getting hit by a snowball!

ALL in all, I'd say Rosetta is a pretty cool company for thinking if New Orleans, when they're based out of Princeton, NJ! Bravo Rosetta- we love ya!!!!!!!!!


Disclosure: I was not given any compensation by City Park, NOMA or Rosetta for this review. This was an activity that my family enjoyed and we wished to share with all of you!