Poken has launched a new Poken Sports and Youth division that will target events in that specific sector.

The division will have offices in the sports centres of New York, US and Lausanne, Switzerland, and will focus on four key areas of sport and youth: athletic and sporting events, religious events, academic and scholastic events and civic events.

Poken has seen a rise in interest from the sector, with recent customers including the Boy Scouts of America, YMCA, Indiana State University, Gulf Youth Conference and several world-leading sports organisations.

Steve Smith, currently director of strategic accounts, will head the new division.

In 2015 Poken created a fully immersive interactive experience at the Boy Scouts of America’s Order of the Arrow Conference, which hosted 15,000 Boy Scouts on the Michigan State University campus. Poken’s digital game engine was used to bring a modern twist to the traditional Scout ‘patches’ as conference guests competed to collect digital patches by taking part in over 200 learning activities around the campus. In addition, Poken delivered digital interactive content to screens throughout the campus showing live interactive statistics, helping guide visitors in real-time to activities, and providing instant alerts and daily contests.

“Poken dramatically enhances the ability to learn and engage with others in a structured, educational format, at events where participants are encouraged to meet other attendees, check into interesting sessions, download relevant materials and participate in social and interactive games,” said Poken CEO Stéphane Doutriaux.

“Combining Poken’s unique know-how with technologies such as NFC and iBeacon, and using our patented ‘touch’ devices and gamification platform, this new sector is a natural evolution for our business.”