Bowling enthusiasts will be able to use new score keeping software at the University Student Union bowling lanes next semester that include a variety of gaming options and features in the bowling center on campus.
The USU board of directors unanimously approved software upgrades for the USU Recreational Center’s bowling center on Monday, the board’s first major budgetary decision of the school year.
The QubicaAMF BES X Scoring and Entertainment System, featuring high-definition touch screen interfaces that will replace the center’s current score-keeping stations, is the second part of a two-phase renovation plan for the school’s bowling center.
New TV monitors were installed in the spring. The software upgrade — which the board hopes to tentatively install over winter break for a spring semester launch — will cost about $88,500 from USU’s capital projects fund, said Diana Salcido, the board’s chair for budget and finance.
The USU is supported through a $59 student fee every semester.
The idea behind the recreation center’s upgrades, said board of directors chair John Gonzalez, is to introduce more variety and enhance the bowler’s experience while increasing student traffic at the recreation center.
“Students have wanted it for a couple of years, and we’re here to serve students,” Gonzalez said.
Students originally voiced interest in having an upgraded bowling system in a survey distributed by the USU in 2011. More than 800 students participated, Gonzalez said.
“We used some of that data to justify this,” he said. “Even though it was a while back, it’s still valuable information and students did express interest in a new upgraded system.”
The software will feature customization options for scoring grids, backgrounds and animations. The touch screen is equipped with a camera and users will be able to play non-bowling related video games using the touch screens and TV monitors. The software will be linked to social media, such as Facebook.
A different element of bowling is also introduced through the software: students can play different, non-tradititional, challenged-based games with the technology.
“Not everybody is a bowler,” said Patricia Thomason, manager of the USU Recreational Center, during Monday’s board meeting. “Not everybody is going to bowl 10 frames. They developed non-traditional games that everyone can enjoy. It puts another element in there for the student.”
There was skepticism among the board, at first, toward the software upgrade.
The board had to decide whether the investment was worth it. Would the software be too complex to navigate? What version would they purchase? And would students use it?
Representatives from QubicaAMF presented their product to the board.
But, Salcido said, the final reassurance was provided by the University of Washington, one of the schools that installed the software in its student union’s bowling center.
Salcido and Thomason called the university, which installed the software over the summer, two weeks ago to ask about its experience with the software.
“We took it upon ourselves to call them,” Salcido said. “We didn’t want to jump into it. We were pretty confident, but there were still some questions we had. We were talking [on the phone] for about an hour. We had a meeting to see how we felt about it, if that would work for our school the way it worked for them.
“Everybody liked the idea, but was nervous about it. When we talked to Jason, the manager over there in Washington, he was really happy with it. He was really satisfied.”
The bowling center’s last upgrade took place more than eight years ago, Thomason said, when automatic bumpers were installed.