On the Record: Former MedRhythms employee helps launch extended-reality gaming app
Photo / Jim Neuger
Cape Elizabeth High School and Princeton alumna Lauren Steidl is the co-founder and co-CEO of Integrated Reality Labs, a Pennsylvania-based extended-reality gaming startup.
Cape Elizabeth native Lauren Steidl is the co-founder and co-CEO of Integrated Reality Labs, a Wayne, Pa.-based startup behind a mobile gaming app called “SLAP: Assassin & Extreme Tag.” Mainebiz caught up with the Princeton alumna to get the lowdown.
Mainebiz: How did you go from history of science major at Princeton to entrepreneur?
Lauren Steidl: At Princeton I took premed courses and classes focused on the history of science and medicine because I was interested in becoming a doctor. Everything changed when I had the opportunity to intern at MedRhythms [and] saw how technology could be used to get people moving.
Six years later, I left the company to build technology that encourages people to exercise, play and connect with others in real life.
MB: For those unversed in gaming, what is SLAP all about?
LS: SLAP supports and improves the experience with games that millions of people play around the world every year. SLAP is making it easier and more fun to play games played in real life — we call these IRL games — with your friends anytime, anywhere.
The first games the app enhances are tag-based games like Assassin, a large game of tag where everyone has a specific target. As SLAP evolves, we’ll support games from Manhunt to Capture the Flag.
MB: How are digital versions of tag and other games different from playing in real life?
LS: SLAP is played in real life with dozens, hundreds or even thousands of people simultaneously in the same way that traditional tag games like Assassin and Humans vs. Zombies are.
The difference is that large-scale IRL games previously required players to use multiple apps to play and record video evidence of the eliminations to send to game organizers who spend hours every day reviewing players’ videos and updating target lists on spreadsheets.
In contrast, SLAP allows players to digitally tag their target, doesn’t require you to capture any video evidence and automatically updates you with your new target. SLAP essentially cuts out all of the tedious, manual work for players and organizers so that they can focus on having fun with their friends and playing the game. Games like Assassin are much faster paced with SLAP.
MB: Who’s your target market?
LS: We’re initially targeting seniors in high school, college students and groups that are hosting Assassin, Humans vs. Zombies, Capture the Flag and Manhunt. These groups tend to consist of 13- to 24-year-old smartphone users who are active and social.
MB: What’s the size of the niche you’re in, and how will you aim to stand out?
LS: 130 million people play these games every year, and more than 40% of all high schools and colleges across the globe participate. We stand out because no other company has successfully created a platform for IRL games. We provide players with a single solution to replace the five-plus other mobile apps and spreadsheets they’re currently using to play these games.
MB: How is fundraising going so far?
LS: Everyone told us that fundraising right now is crazy, but we’ve found support from both angels and game executives who’ve contributed to the $550,000 currently committed.
M: How will you make money? What’s the business model?
LS: Since players are already wagering $10 to $20 per person on each Assassin match as well as often paying students to organize these matches, our early revenue will come from charging players for the match administration and management as well as taking a percent of the wagers made on match outcomes.
Like other mobile apps, players will also be able to purchase content, including custom game rules, power ups, premium skins and avatars. In the future we will explore B2B2C opportunities by enabling institutional and community fundraising through SLAP as well as event-specific games at fairs and festivals.
We will also partner with retail locations, drive traffic to them as part of gameplay (e.g., turning them into safe zones), and take a commission on the purchases made by players.
MB: What’s your long-term vision for the business?
LS: Our long-term vision for Integrated Reality Labs is to develop games across a variety of popular genres, from social deduction games like Among Us to multiplayer online battle arenas like League of Legends and make it possible to play these in physical spaces.
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