What do you get when you merge the wow of technology with the exotic dreams and passion of an unstoppable visionary? In the case of Steven Schussler, founder and creator of the world-renowned Rainforest Cafes, and INTOUCH Kiosk, a leading "user-experience" touch screen solutions provider, you get "edutainment" in a whole new dimension.

When Schussler envisioned a gigantic new tyrannosaurus-size themed restaurant concept some five years ago, he visualized life-sized animatronic dinosaurs, cascading waterfalls, bubbling geysers, lava flows and asteroid showers, but as his dream grew closer to reality he also imagined fully interactive and engaging edutainment centers to fill out the whole "eat, shop, explore and discover" experience. Enter the amazing new digital technology world of touch screen kiosks!

When Steven Schussler dreams, he dreams big. And he's also not guilty of letting road blocks get in his way. After all, when he converted his entire home into an actual rainforest environment in the early 90's in order to showcase his vision for a multi-dimensional, themed family restaurant dining experience, he didn't even let State queries about his excessive electrical bill impede his progress. And with 39 thriving Rainforest Cafes in locations around the world, including each and every one of the Disney theme parks, the rest as they say is history.

With the world's first T-REX™ set to open in late spring of 2006, in the beautiful Legends Entertainment District in Kansas City, Kansas, Schussler approached INTOUCH some short six months prior to investigate the possibilities of turning his Kiosk edutainment concept into reality in time for the initial launch. Excited by Steve's vision to incorporate the latest in experiential touch screen technology within the spectacular confines of the multi-sensory, multi-dimensional T-REX™ environment, the INTOUCH team jumped at the opportunity to make it happen.

From the initial conceptual stage forward, Schussler emphasized the importance and focus of the touch screens as a prominent value-add to the overall customer experience. They were to engage, entertain, excite and even educate! With that in mind, INTOUCH set out to create dynamic and stirring video loop footage and imagery to showcase the habitat and world of each of the magnificent animatronic dinosaurs on stage throughout the T-REX™ environment.

Not only that, customized games, quizzes and other
edutainment features were developed such as
"Create-a-saurus" (An interactive exploration game
where kids of all ages can select, with the touch of
a finger, from a palette of various dinosaur features,
skin designs and colors and "create" their own
imaginary prehistoric beast.) As well, a family of
animated "disney-esque" T-REX™ characters spring
to life in short, entertaining video snippets throughout
the interactive Kiosk displays.

Another key technology feature INTOUCH was challenged to incorporate into the touch screen logic was the possibility for customers to enter an e-mail address and by the time they arrived home from their interactive dining experience, a bounce-back message would be awaiting them, thanking them for their patronage as well as possibly promoting upcoming T-REX™ specials and events.

All in all pretty cool, exciting and cutting edge stuff. But then again, why would you expect anything different from a gentleman by the name of Steven Schussler. As if the flying pterodactyls, earth-shaking dinosaurs, thunderous asteroid and meteorite show and coral-laden aquariums (teeming with sharks and exotic marine life) weren't enough, Mr. Schussler had this to say about the interactive touch screen component of T-REX™: "I can't say enough about the brilliant work the INTOUCH team did in fulfilling and surpassing my expectations with this new technology. This is the single most exciting conceptual feature we've introduced into our themed environment concept. I've seen first hand how excited our customers and kids are with the content and games and I couldn't be more thrilled. As a matter of fact, even our staff can't keep their hands off this entertaining feature."

As T-REX™ opened its doors to an enthusiastic and expectant throng on July 25, 2006, all anyone around The Legends Entertainment District village could be heard saying was "T-REXellent!!!"