# Booth Games at IFA 2026: Football, Basketball, Driving, Esports and RFID

> At IFA 2026 in Berlin, appliance booths used short games to make visitors stop: a 15-second football target challenge, an arcade basketball game, driving cockpits, esports seats, a ball-catching game and an RFID table that changes a cabinet's material. MLABART built them for Midea and TCL; each game has to detect one specific thing.

**Published:** 2026-10-23 - **By:** MLABART

## Why put games on an appliance booth?

IFA 2026 ran from September 4 to 8 at Messe Berlin, with 240,000 visitors from 155 countries according to the organisers. On a show floor that size, an appliance booth competes for minutes of attention, and a game gives visitors a reason to stop, a reason to stay while friends play, and a reason to remember the brand. Two of the brands MLABART worked with also had a sports partnership to bring to life: Midea with FC Barcelona and TCL with the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026, which was played in Berlin during IFA.

MLABART built six games across the two booths:

- Midea, Hall 5.1: the "Shoot Like a Star" football challenge, a ball-catching game for the Raynor Pro air conditioner, and an RFID cabinet-material table.
- TCL, Hall 21A: an arcade basketball game in the FIBA corner, two ring-shaped driving cockpits, and esports, for which MLABART supplied the gaming PCs and games.

- [Case: Midea at IFA 2026 Berlin](https://mlabart.com/work/midea-ifa-berlin-2026/)
- [Case: TCL at IFA 2026 Berlin](https://mlabart.com/work/tcl-ifa-berlin-2026/)

## What does each booth game have to detect?

Every game starts from one question: what exactly must the system know about the player? A football challenge needs to know which target the ball hit; an RFID table only needs to know which sample was put down. That answer decides the hardware. The table lists common approaches as a general principle, not the specification of the IFA builds.

| Game | What the system must know | Common approaches (general principle) | IFA 2026 example |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Football target challenge | Which target the ball hit, inside the time limit | Impact sensors behind target zones, or a camera on the goal face | Midea "Shoot Like a Star" |
| Arcade basketball | Each made shot and the time left | A sensor in the hoop or net, such as an infrared beam or a switch | TCL, FIBA corner |
| Driving cockpit | Steering, throttle and brake | Read directly from the wheel and pedals; no body sensing needed | TCL, two ring cockpits |
| Esports seat | Controller input and a steady frame rate | Gaming PCs specified for the game and its displays | TCL, PCs and games by MLABART |
| Ball-catching screen game | The player's moves from the console | Buttons, a joystick or a touchscreen on the console | Midea Raynor Pro |
| RFID material table | Which sample sits on the reader | An RFID tag inside each sample and a reader under the surface | Midea "Built to Fit" |

- [Related: How sports interactive installations are built -- lessons from NBA fan events in Macau](https://mlabart.com/insights/sports-interactive-installations-basketball/)

- ![General-principle table of six booth games and what each must detect: football target challenge, which target was hit inside the time limit; arcade basketball, each made shot and the time left; driving cockpit, steering, throttle and brake from the wheel and pedals; esports seat, controller input and a steady frame rate from suitably specified gaming PCs; ball-catching screen game, the player's moves from the console; RFID material table, which tagged sample sits on the reader.](https://mlabart.com/insights/ifa-2026-booth-games-and-sensing/what-each-booth-game-detects.svg)

## Midea's "Shoot Like a Star": a 15-second football round

Midea's announcement describes the challenge as 15 seconds to score into designated targets, with Midea x FC Barcelona co-branded prizes. In the build, a screen set into a claret-and-blue striped wall shows the countdown and a target. The player kicks a ball at it; a miss is marked with a cross and a new target appears after each shot, until time runs out.

- [MLABART video -- football game interaction at IFA for Midea](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gTRLE5nSPK4)

- ![The Shoot Like a Star football challenge at the Midea booth, IFA 2026, in claret and blue stripes, with a 15-second timer and a target on the screen and a ball waiting on the floor.](https://mlabart.com/cases/midea-ifa-berlin-2026/05.jpg)
- ![Mid-round in the football challenge: the timer reads 08s, a miss is marked with a cross and a new target has appeared on the screen.](https://mlabart.com/cases/midea-ifa-berlin-2026/06.jpg)

## Why a short, fixed round works on a booth

General principle: a booth game is designed around the queue as much as the player. A fixed, short round tells the player when it ends and lets the next person step up; a clock and a result on a big screen give the people waiting something to watch; and an automatic reset means staff only hand over the ball. Inside the round, a target game repeats one loop -- show a target, detect the shot, mark hit or miss, show the next target -- until the buzzer.

- ![General-principle diagram of a 15-second target round: a timeline from 0 to 15 seconds where a target is shown, the shot detected, a hit or miss marked and the next target shown, repeating; below, five steps -- ready, countdown, target loop, result, reset for the next player.](https://mlabart.com/insights/ifa-2026-booth-games-and-sensing/timed-target-round.svg)

## TCL: basketball in the FIBA corner

TCL is a Global Partner of the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026, and the Inspire Your Passion zone of its IFA booth carried the partnership. MLABART supplied the basketball shooting game in that corner: an orange arcade-style hoop machine beside the #We Own The Game! wall, with a tablet kiosk next to it. The fan booth TCL ran at the tournament arena was a separate site and is not part of MLABART's work.

- ![The basketball corner of the TCL booth at IFA 2026: a FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026 wall, a #We Own The Game! screen and an orange arcade basketball machine with a tablet kiosk.](https://mlabart.com/cases/tcl-ifa-berlin-2026/05.jpg)

## Driving cockpits and esports: the input is the controller

In TCL's Inspire Your Vision zone, two ring-shaped cockpits each hold a racing seat, steering wheel, pedals and screen, running a virtual driving game. A third ring cockpit was set up for esports, for which MLABART provided the gaming PCs and games; MLABART has supplied esports PCs and games at CES as well.

General principle: simulators and esports need no body sensing, because the wheel, pedals and controllers are the input. The work moves elsewhere -- to PCs that hold a steady frame rate on the booth's displays all day, seats and controls set up for a quick change of player, sessions short enough for a queue, and spare hardware on site.

- ![Two ring-shaped driving cockpits at the TCL booth, IFA 2026, each with a racing seat, steering wheel, pedals and screen.](https://mlabart.com/cases/tcl-ifa-berlin-2026/06.jpg)
- ![An esports cockpit inside a large ring frame at the TCL booth, IFA 2026, with a gaming seat, wheel, pedals, monitor and desk, photographed during setup.](https://mlabart.com/cases/tcl-ifa-berlin-2026/08.jpg)

## Product games: Raynor Pro ball-catching and an RFID cabinet table

Not every game needs a sports partner. Under a Raynor Pro air conditioner labelled Built for the North, a visitor plays a short ball-catching game on a screen from a pillar console, beside a panel about the unit's heating in very cold weather -- the game keeps people at the product long enough to read the claim.

On Midea's Built to Fit table, visitors place ceramic, wood or stone samples on a reader and the screen above changes the cabinet to that material, comparing InfiniteFit with a previous model. General principle: RFID suits this kind of "put it down and see" interaction because each sample carries its own tag, so the system knows exactly which one was chosen without a camera or a touchscreen.

- [MLABART video -- ball-catching game for Midea](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ekjdrRIEIig)
- [MLABART video -- RFID interaction table for Midea at IFA](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pB0TSsJi_xg)

- ![A visitor, seen from behind, plays a ball-catching game at a pillar console under a Raynor Pro air conditioner labelled Built for the North, Midea booth, IFA 2026.](https://mlabart.com/cases/midea-ifa-berlin-2026/09.jpg)
- ![The RFID table reading Built to Fit, Pick Your Cabinet Material, with ceramic, wood and stone samples below a screen comparing InfiniteFit with a previous model, Midea booth, IFA 2026.](https://mlabart.com/cases/midea-ifa-berlin-2026/10.jpg)

## What to plan before putting a game on a booth

These points apply to most trade-show games:

- One message per game: tie the round to a partnership or a product claim, so playing it says something about the brand.
- Round length and queue: a short fixed round, a visible clock and a result the queue can see.
- Space and safety: balls need a contained area, netting or walls; simulators need room to get in and out.
- Noise and light: a trade-show hall is loud and bright, so results must read on screen without sound.
- Prizes and rules: if there is a prize, decide the rule before the show and make it visible.
- Staffing and resets: aim for automatic resets, so staff hand over the ball or the seat rather than operate the game.
- Spares and testing: bring spare controllers, sensors and PCs, and run the game for full show days before shipping.

- [Related: Radar, camera or depth sensor? Choosing the sensing layer](https://mlabart.com/insights/motion-sensing-for-interactive-installations/)

## Sources

Show dates and figures are from IFA Berlin; partnerships, zones and the 15-second rule are from the brands' own announcements. Descriptions of how each game is played come from MLABART's own photographs and videos. The sensing approaches are general practice, not the specification of the IFA builds.

- [IFA Berlin press release, 8 September 2026 -- 240,000 visitors from 155 countries, more than 2,000 exhibitors](https://drive.ifa-berlin.com/drive/2026/09/IFA%202026_That%20was%20IFA%202026_press%20release_EN.pdf)
- [Midea -- Midea Brings "Simply ideal" to Life at IFA 2026 (Shoot Like a Star)](https://www.midea.com/global/news/midea-brings-simply-ideal-to-life-at-ifa-2026)
- [TCL -- AI Inspired Life: Step Inside TCL Inspiration Habitat at IFA 2026 (interactive basketball experiences)](https://www.tcl.com/global/en/news/ai-inspired-life-step-inside-tcl-inspiration-habitat-at-ifa-2026)
- [PR Newswire, 5 September 2026 -- TCL Inspires Her Greatness at the FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup 2026](https://technode.global/prnasia/tcl-inspires-her-greatness-at-the-fiba-womens-basketball-world-cup-2026/)


## FAQ

### What kinds of games work on a trade-show booth?

Short, fixed rounds with a visible result: target challenges, arcade shooting, driving simulators, esports and simple product games. At IFA 2026, MLABART built a 15-second football challenge, a ball-catching game and an RFID table for Midea, and basketball, driving cockpits and esports PCs and games for TCL.

### How does a football target game know which target was hit?

Common approaches are impact sensors behind each target zone or a camera watching the goal face; software then marks a hit or a miss and shows the next target. This is a general principle, not the specification of a particular build.

### Why use RFID on a product table?

Each sample carries its own RFID tag, so a reader under the table knows exactly which one a visitor put down and the screen can respond, without a camera or a touchscreen. Midea's Built to Fit table at IFA 2026 changed an on-screen cabinet to the chosen material this way.

### How long should a booth game round be?

Short and fixed, so the queue keeps moving and the result is easy to compare. Midea's Shoot Like a Star challenge at IFA 2026 used a 15-second round, with the countdown and targets on a screen.



## Related Pages

**See also:** [Motion & Body-Tracking Interactives](https://mlabart.com/solutions/motion-tracking-interactives/) | [Interactive LED Walls & Big Screens](https://mlabart.com/solutions/interactive-led-walls/) | [Product Launch Reveal Stages](https://mlabart.com/solutions/product-launch-reveals/) | [Interactive Software Development for Installations](https://mlabart.com/solutions/interactive-software-development/)

---

**MLABART** -- Interaction - Imagination - Innovation

MLABART is an interactive installation and interactive software development studio. We design, program and deliver interactive installations -- motion-sensing games, touch and AI experiences, interactive LED walls, projection mapping, naked-eye 3D and kinetic sculptures -- for mall and New Year's Eve countdown campaigns, trade-show booths and launches, and brand pop-ups, from concept and custom software through fabrication and on-site delivery.

- Web: https://mlabart.com
- Email: mark@touchworld-sh.com
- Phone / WhatsApp: +86 18917292695
- Canonical HTML version: https://mlabart.com/insights/ifa-2026-booth-games-and-sensing/