Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 25, 1993 TAG: 9310280123
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Bobby - along with Stuart Spinach, Courtney Cauliflower and the other animated denizens of "Five A Day Adventures" - makes his national debut on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday. The characters are part of a cutting-edge computerized learning tool that's aimed at teaching good nutrition habits to third graders.
Every bit as engaging as a television cartoon show but without commercials, "Five A Day Adventures" and its trendy, colorful cast tout the benefits of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to a generation that would probably consider Chiquita Banana old-hat.
Interactive Design and Development Corp., which operates out of a second-floor office suite at 2001 S. Main St., developed the interactive CD-ROM computer program under a contract with Dole Food Corp., in collaboration with the Society for Nutrition Education. A brief Dole logo at the start of the program is the only reminder of Dole's sponsorship, and its products are neither mentioned nor promoted.
Now in final testing, "Five A Day Adventures" eventually will be distributed free of charge to schools throughout the country. It is in use in elementary classrooms in San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York City, Atlanta and Dallas.
"The characters are the theme of the program," said Mary Miller of IDD, who explained that Dole originally developed them for a cookbook. Miller said IDD took the two-dimensional figures and gave them names, voices and personalities.
"We made them come to life, as best as you can on a computer," she said.
These are cartoon figures today's kids can relate to. Bobby Banana, for example, zooms in on a skateboard, wears snazzy sneakers and peppers his speech with expressions like "hey, dudes."
"We like all the characters. We really like all the characters," Miller enthused.
With them and a list of 36 learning objectives from Dole in hand, the company spent a year putting it all together. At first, Miller said, the challenge seemed enormous.
"We're thinking: `We've got to teach these objectives, and we don't even know this stuff,' " she said.
Miller and the firm's six other employees learned fast, and she found herself taking on tasks she'd never imagined, like writing the lyrics to most of the songs.
The efforts of more than 20 people and countless work hours went into "Five A Day Adventures."
It contains eight original, catchy songs, 21 nutritional lessons and 54 movies that kids can ask to see, all without touching the computer keyboard. The entire program is accessed by using a computer mouse to click on various subjects. Text material is kept to a minimum.
In all, Miller said, the program contains 10 to 15 hours of engaging, imaginative and information-packed animation and song. But it's also about much more than just nutrition.
"We've hidden in the program lots of things for kids to find," Miller said. For example, click the mouse on the flag, and you'll hear a snippet of the national anthem. In a rural picnic scene, clicking on a horse in the background makes the animal rear up and whinny.
A section showing kids how to make their own tasty fruit and vegetable dishes stresses kitchen safety as well. Ray Raisin admonishes kids to wash their hands before preparing food. The program has mini-videos showing how to prepare nearly two-dozen recipes.
While its focus is fruits and vegetables and nutrition, the program also touches on aspects of geography, history and social studies that are related to the history and origins of the personalized produce.
On one screen, a map of the United States shows where a particular fruit or vegetable is primarily grown. But users also can click on the outline of any state, and the program will say the state's name.
"They always use this," said Miller, who explained how the company used real third-graders in Minnesota and Georgia to help de-bug and improve early versions.
Another component, "The Challenge," gives kids a chance to test their knowledge during a quiz session that gives "tokens" to players for coming up with correct answers in response to a series of clues. Get enough of them and you become a "Five A Day Kid."
The disk contains a glossary that looks like a real dictionary, plus a section that contains teaching aids, the lyrics to all the songs and other references.
Though designed specifically for third-graders, the program is not necessarily wasted on adults.
"I'm convinced," Miller said of the program's five-servings-a-day message. "You can't look around this stuff and not be."
Grownups would find the salad factory just as delightful and educational as youngsters do. But it might surprise adults to learn how just 3 tablespoons of french dressing can make an otherwise healthful salad unacceptably high in fat.
Besides starting kids on the path to a better diet, Miller said she hopes "Five A Day Adventures" will be the vehicle to put her firm on the road to greater success. While she didn't say how much it cost to produce the disk, she conceded it was "beyond what we ever got paid for it."
"Five A Day Adventures" - which will roll out nationally in January - could be a hard act to follow, but Miller said her firm's already talking with other potential clients, including a major airline.
"We hope this will bring us some additional opportunities," she said. "I wish people knew we were here."
If it catches on with schools and kids, "Five A Day Adventures" could put Interactive Design and Development Corp. on the map. Can a Bobby Banana lunch box be far behind?
by CNB