Raised on worlds like Fortnite, Roblox and Minecraft, Gen-Z has grown up playing an active role in what they see on screen, building, competing and influencing content in real time. That mindset now defines how they experience culture. Whether it’s sport, music or retail, they expect to participate, not just observe.
This shift has created what we call the experience gap: the distance between the stories brands are trying to tell and the experiences audiences actually want.
For decades, marketing was about telling a great story, a single narrative designed to inspire, inform or entertain. But for Gen Z, that model feels static. They’ve grown up in ecosystems where content shifts every second, where users shape the narrative as much as the creator does.
This generation expects experiences that evolve with them that listen, adapt and respond in real time. It’s no coincidence that 71% of shoppers now expect personalised interactions from brands, and 68% feel more connected to spaces that include digital interactivity (Drawing from FutureLabs' State of Brand Experience in 2025 report) Gen Z doesn’t separate digital from physical, or brand from experience. They see every touchpoint as part of a continuous world that reacts to their presence.
To reach them, brands must move beyond message delivery and design systems of participation, environments that invite exploration, trigger emotion and reward curiosity. In this new reality, the story doesn’t end when the ad finishes; it continues the moment someone joins in.
In a world driven by algorithms and instant feedback, FutureLabs’ AI Photobooth redefines how fans interact with brands. It transforms a single moment of curiosity into a personalised, shareable experience, powered by real-time AI generation and designed for today’s participatory audiences.
Gen Z has grown up creating, not consuming, visuals. From TikTok filters to generative avatars, they expect technology to reflect who they are. The AI Photobooth bridges that instinct with brand storytelling. Within seconds, it captures an image, applies a theme or persona, and produces a stylised output that’s ready to share, all inside the booth, no app required.
It’s fast, expressive and deeply personal. Participants aren’t just taking a photo; they’re co-creating an artwork that mirrors their energy and the mood of the event. The anticipation of the AI reveal turns passive waiting time into play, while the unique result gives fans something worth keeping and sharing. Every output is different, and that sense of individuality drives excitement and repeat participation.
For brands, the AI Photobooth is more than a crowd-pleaser, it’s a measurable engagement engine. Each interaction captures data points such as participation rate, sentiment, dwell time and social amplification. The result is a seamless fusion of AI-driven storytelling and user-generated content, extending brand reach long after the event.
From sports tournaments and music festivals to luxury retail activations, FutureLabs’ AI Photobooth has become a benchmark for AI-driven brand experiences.
At FutureLabs, we believe the most powerful interactions start with movement. Our interactive games, reaction walls and sports simulators transform spectators into participants and play into data.
These systems form the heartbeat of modern brand activations. Whether it’s a reaction wall testing reflexes, a sports simulator measuring performance, or a motion-based game built for families and fans, they’ll all be designs to be intuitive, fast and addictive. Every action triggers an immediate reaction with lights and sound, creating an experience people want to come back to.
Humans are hardwired to play. The moment you introduce challenge, feedback and reward, participation becomes instinctive. Gen Z and family audiences are drawn to activations that let them move, compete and celebrate together. FutureLabs’ motion-based systems tap into this instinct, using gamified engagement to turn a public space into a shared arena. The real-time reaction, a flash of light, a cheer, a leaderboard… reinforces the thrill and keeps people coming back for another go.
For brands, these interactive experiences deliver dwell time, visibility and emotional recall. Each session creates measurable engagement data: number of participants, average play time, replays per user, and social mentions. The energy around a single installation can transform an event zone into a magnet for crowd flow and content creation.
More importantly, play creates brand association through emotion, excitement, joy, connection, feelings that directly influence long-term recall and preference.
From the Nudie Surfing Activation to Mastercard’s Play & Win at the Australian Open, FutureLabs has proven that gamification is not just entertainment, it’s the language of modern experiential marketing.
By merging interactive technology with physical play, we build installations that move people literally and emotionally.
Gen Z’s relationship with culture is built on interactivity. They co-create filters, remix trends, and influence what happens next in real time. The challenge for brands is no longer visibility, but participation.
Each product, whether it’s the AI Photobooth that turns identity into creative expression, the Interactive Games that merge play with motion… is built on the same principle: make the audience part of the story.
When people contribute, they care. When they see their choices change the experience, they remember. That emotional ownership translates into longer dwell time, stronger recall and measurable brand affinity. It also generates real-time data, participation rates, movement heatmaps, social sharing that helps marketers understand not just what people saw, but how they felt while experiencing it.
At FutureLabs, we call it Participation Design - the art of creating experiences that listen, learn and adapt to their audience. It’s how brands move from storytelling to story-living, from moments to memories, from attention to connection.
If you’re building your next activation and still considering:
• How does my audience play a role in the story?
• How does the experience evolve when they engage?
• How can data make that connection measurable and meaningful?
If those are the questions you’re asking, we’re already speaking the same language.
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👉 Partner with FutureLabs to design your next AI-driven, gamified or interactive brand experience → Contact Us
