Samsung has devised a novel tactic that will possibly encourage lazy teenagers who dislike doing the laundry to indulge in the mundane chore happily. The South Korean company has introduced LANdry, a concept program that will reward teens with game credits when they do their laundry.
LANdry is basically a launderette that offers lightning speeds of internet access as well as the top-notch gaming PCs. In Sweden, Samsung has set up LANdry at a pilot location where teenagers would be able not only to indulge in hard-core gaming, but at the same time wash their dirty clothes.
"Teens spend less time on housework now than ever. We set up a unique laundromat, featuring the Galaxy S7 and AddWash washing machine, to see if we could make teenagers look at chores in a new way," revealed the company.
The catch here is that teens can only play the games if they load the AddWash washing machine, which the company released on June 16, with laundry and wait for the clothes to finish washing. It follows logic that the longer one will do their laundry for, the more the duration for playing the games.
Basically, users will be able to exercise wireless control over the clothes they are washing at the LANdry thanks to the Galaxy S7 smartphone and the smart AddWash washing machine.
When a teen walks into the LANdry they are given the Galaxy S7, which essentially acts like a timer. So when you load the laundry machine with your grubby clothes, the clock on the timer starts ticking. Teens will have up to 60 minutes for their load to finish washing and it is during this time that they can indulge in the action-packed games on the powerful gaming PCs.
It does not matter if you are mid-way through the game or at its far end because the moment the timer goes off — signaling the end of the spin cycle — your game ends automatically, too. This is an alert to gather the laundry, fold it and make your journey back home from LANdry.
The idea behind the LANdry is to get teens to actively participate in household chores — voluntarily, at that — instead of staying glued to their mobile devices. The initiative is also a great marketing ploy by Samsung to promote its products, namely the just-launched AddWash washing machine and the flagship Galaxy S7 smartphone.
Samsung has also shared a video (below) that shows the LANdry in action. The video also shows a sneaky teen extending his gameplay time on the LANdry by simply throwing in a pair of socks inside the washing machine. This behavior is, of course, not encouraged by the company.
Whether Samsung will limit its LANdry initiative to Sweden or look to expand it to other countries as well remains circumspect. The cost of the service is also not known yet.
