Photo Courtesy of Playworld Systems Inc. NEOS, an outdoor gaming system, will be installed at Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks. About $100,000 has been spent for new park playground equipment.

Park users in the Conejo Valley will be among the first in the nation to have access to a state-of-the-art outdoor interactive electronic game that marks a new era in playground activities.

The game, called NEOS, features four towers that house red and green flashing lights, music and sound effects. Players run back and forth, racing against the clock, to slap the blinking lights and score points.

The system will be installed at Conejo Creek Park North, the area's busiest park, as part of a remodeling of one of the two play areas.

Conejo Recreation and Park District administrator Tom Hare saw NEOS in action in September at the National Park and Recreation Association convention in Indianapolis. He was immediately taken with it.

"We're always trying to think outside the box and be creative," he said. "This interactive system is perfect for older kids who still want to play but have outgrown swings and slides."

Hare said a $235,000 remodeling of the "tot lot" at the Conejo Creek Park was approved by the Park District board in May. There was enough funding within that budget to purchase the NEOS system, which costs $30,000.

A total of $100,000 is being spent on equipment for the new playground, which will reopen at the end of March.

"There will also be swings, see-saws, and two activity centers featuring a rock climber, net climber, double slides and so on," Hare said.

NEOS is made by a Pennsylvania company called Playworld Systems. The company's president, Matt Miller, said concerns about childhood obesity are one of the reasons they came up with the idea for the outdoor electronic game.

"Children's activities and true interaction in an outdoor environment has become a big issue," said Miller. "It's all about how to get kids moving and playing again."

Miller said it was a challenge to create outdoor technology at an affordable price, and it took three years to develop NEOS. So far, 25 of them have been shipped to customers across the U.S., and, he said, interest continues to grow.

"NEOS has nine different games and three difficulty levels, and each game is 60 seconds long," he said. "It's suitable for multiple age groups, a single player or two players or teams. This is going to revolutionize playgrounds."

Last fall, Ellen DeGeneres featured it on her TV show as part of her Games Week. Videos from the show have been circulating on YouTube, sparking additional interest.

"It looks like a really fun game," said Sheila Delarosa, a Thousand Oaks mother of three who saw it on DeGeneres' show. "I have one child who would use it."

Her friend Alison Boring, who was helping her set up a picnic in Conejo Creek Park North, was concerned about the durability of the NEOS game.

"We all have experience in theme parks where things break down after lots of use, and that's what I fear with that," she said. "My concern is how often they will maintain it so it keeps working."

Robert Srery, who was in the park with his 3-year-old daughter, Ava, said he was sad to see the "tot lot" replaced, because his daughter loved to play there.

"I think older kids will want their Nintendo or something as opposed to being outside in the playground," he said. "I hope they do a follow-up study to see if it does actually attract older kids."