There’s nothing like Thanksgiving and Christmas to make people start thinking about diets and getting at least a bit trimmer for the new year. But most people don’t make it past the thinking stage. Boston startup video game company VirZoom hopes to change that, and they’re using virtual reality to entice gamers to pedal off the excess weight with a new VirZoom stationary exercise bike.
Eric Malafeew, who spent 15 years at Harmonix as a chief architect making games like Dance Central, Guitar Hero and Rock Band, is living proof that exercising in VR works. In creating the $400 exercise bike and developing a suite of seven VR arcade games, he lost 15 pounds in the first few months, and has kept 10 pounds off to date by playing for 15 to 30 minutes a day. The bike even inspired the 40-something co-founder and CTO of VirZoom to quit smoking — although that’s not something the studio is claiming will result from exercising in VR.
“When I left Harmonix to launch VirZoom, it was with a belief that gaming can be good for people.”
“When I left Harmonix to launch VirZoom it was with a belief that gaming can be good for people,” Malafeew told DigitalTrends. “I was the target audience and main developer. My goal was to compel myself to not watch TV for 30 minutes and instead pedal at a high resistance on the bike for 30 minutes. I play every day, either before I go to work or after I come home. I have a family, but they let me be for that period of time.”
The VirZoom comes with built-in heart rate sensors, and has integrated speed and direction sensors. The faster a player pedals, the faster he or she moves in the virtual world. And the modified Chinese stationary bike has a manual resistance dial for those who want to increase the calories they burn.
It’s also worth noting the bike weighs 39 pounds, and folds in half for storage. It takes about 15 minutes to build the bike with a wrench and screwdriver, and it connects seamlessly to numerous VR platforms through a dongle. Given the plug-and-play nature of PlayStation VR, I enjoyed playing that version the best. It doesn’t hurt that the PSVR has the most comfortable headset out there, which comes in handy when trying an intense workout.
Back in the day VR gaming
Malafeew and his team has developed a suite of arcade games in VirZoom Arcade for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive. The VirZoom bike connects to any of these platforms, and every bike ships with a free software development kit (SDK) so game makers can add to the library of games available. In addition, gamers are encouraged to use the bike’s 10 buttons and triggers on the handlebar to map existing VR games for play.
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Source: Digital Trends