VR will undoubtedly change people's lives in the future, including fitness. Many companies are working hard to combine VR games with fitness to provide consumers with a new and fun way to exercise.
Imagine if you are driving a tank on the snow, or riding a poetic past in the Greek mythology of Pegasus, or are you on the horseback, are you excited? In fact, you only need to sit on a bicycle and pedal on the pedal to do it all. 
“Really, you have to experience it yourself to understand it,†said Spencer Honeyman, director of business at VirZOOM, a VR sports bike manufacturer. The VirZOOM bike weighs less than 40 pounds and started retailing on Amazon and Gamestop last June for $399. The car is compatible with VR helmets such as PlaystaTIon VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, and has some fantasy games built in.
I put on the HTC Vive helmet and started it. I suddenly found myself riding on a white flying horse. Spencer Hörmann is right, you really need to see it for yourself. I will never think of this kind of enjoyable exercise. However, I am now in it. I don't even realize that my feet are pedaling. I don't think that the gods of Pegasus will fall from the sky.
Fitness games are not new, Nintendo Wii fitness games are already well known. But VR fitness games are different, and their immersive experience makes it almost impossible for users to be distracted. Cycling is an activity that is ideal for moving quickly in a controlled environment. On a bicycle fixed to the floor, the user does not feel nausea due to bumps, and treadmills or rowing equipment may not be able to do this.
VirZOOM tried various equipment before developing sports bikes. The equipment that VirZOOM wants to develop must be comfortable and efficient, and will not cause nausea and vomiting in the VR experience. In addition, cycling is a relatively simple sport with no thrills to worry about, and most Americans have this experience in their childhood. VirZOOM hopes that high-tech fitness solutions are as simple as riding a bicycle.
In fact, many people who buy bicycles almost never ride, just as many people buy a gym membership card but hardly go. Many people buy a treadmill but throw it in the garage. If VirZOOM and more and more similar companies want to successfully reshape their fitness, they must make fitness more fun with the charm of VR.
VirZOOM CEO Eric Janszen said that VirZOOM offers "not just a more fun way to use sports bikes. It is a way to compete with others and compete with others."
VirZOOM works with Fitbit to allow users to record their fitness data. Users can not only track their fitness activities, but also compare their data with others. Whether it is because of the spirit of competition or the VR experience itself, the VirZOOM bike has been popular. According to VirZOOM's research, the average time each user uses a VirZOOM bike is 26 minutes, and a new bike workout is performed every 23 hours. (What, how many times do you go to the gym every week?)
In addition to VirZOOM, there are also some VR fitness startups that are also competing. In April of this year, German startup HYVE launched the ICAROS flight experience simulator with a retail price of $8,400. The device looks more like a medieval torture device than a fitness device.
According to InternaTIonal Data CorporaTIon, the global augmented reality (AR) and VR markets are expected to climb from $5.2 billion in 2016 to more than $162 billion in 2020. For the VR fitness industry, this means more devices, more games, and a wider range of users.
"With the development of technology, the VR fitness industry will grow exponentially," said Michael De Medeiros, editor of VR Fitness Insider. Michael De Medeiros believes that two years later, VR fitness products will be able to provide users with a 360-degree experience.
HTC subsidiary Vive Studios is a VR content developer that is currently promoting its sports gaming products. As of now, the company's most popular games include the boxing game "Knockout League" and a tennis game. Vive Studios launches about 30 games a year, and 20% of games this year will be sports-themed.
Joel Breton, head of Vive Studios, wants the company's products to appeal to consumers who spend thousands of dollars on treadmills or rowing machines – often leaving them aside in a few weeks. "They are bored," he said.
The early users of the VirZOOM bike were gamers, which was not surprising. However, as PC prices fall and VR moves into the mainstream market, VirZOOM hopes its products will also appeal to casual fitness consumers.
“Many people like to do fitness,†explains Joel Breton. “So, if we ensemble fitness, it’s an amazing cross.†Michael De Medeiros said there is a huge opportunity in the fitness game market, but this potential is because User experience issues are not fully exploited.
Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, a researcher at the University of Missouri in the United States, published an article in 2013 entitled "Mirroring the Self: The Impact of Self on Health, Appearance and Happiness in a Virtual World" (Mirrored Selves: The Influence Thesis of Self-Presence in a Virtual World on Health). In this paper, Elizabeth Bemmovitz talks about how VR avatars influence people's perceptions of their fitness capabilities.
“VR applications can make people become another self, or become a better version of themselves.†She explained, “This way, you can explore how to be a healthier self in the real world.†Elizabeth Bemmo Wits found that if you put someone on a treadmill in a virtual environment, they might do the actual exercise for the next 24 hours. Similarly, when playing the game Second Life, players can jump into the air, which often makes players believe that they can do it in reality.
Elizabeth Bemmovitz's testees hope to incorporate their behavior in the virtual world into real life, and their role play in an idealized environment gives them confidence in more “high-risk situations†(such as real life). ) test these activities. It is unclear whether this role-playing has a long-term impact, but at least it has short-term effects.
However, there are some problems that plague VR fitness, an emerging industry. The average consumer is still scared off by seemingly cumbersome VR devices. HTC Vive's wireless helmet has not yet been launched, but is expected to be available this year. With a wireless helmet, weight is no longer a problem.
“The technology is great now,†Michael De Medeiros said. “But, after two or three years, the technology will make the current product look very earthy.â€
Another question is whether consumers are willing to share a sweaty VR helmet with others in public gyms such as gyms. This is part of why VirZOOM is targeting the home market.
The last problem is that some fitness enthusiasts complain that the current VR fitness market is only suitable for aerobic exercise, ignoring resistance training such as weightlifting.
Black Box co-founder Preston Lewis believes the Black Box is the world's first VR gym. Preston Lewis is interested in creating a unique experience rather than selling sports equipment. He is currently building a boutique gym dedicated to VR resistance training in Idaho, USA.
Black Box is applying for a patent for its own resistance training VR system. "We are creating a new sports category," Lewis said.
Ordinary gyms are unlikely to convert all of their devices to VR devices, but many gyms may add VR elements in the next few years. VirZOOM recently announced a partnership with commercial fitness equipment manufacturer LifeFitness to develop a new VR fitness device. VirZOOM said that dozens of gyms have been interested in their devices in recent weeks.
"VR is becoming more popular," Spencer Hohmann said.
Indeed, VR consumers are evolving, they are no longer just hardcore PC users and technology geeks. One-third of VirZOOM's users buy VirZOOM bikes primarily for fitness, and they buy VR helmets just to use their VirZOOM bikes.
At the same time, VirZOOM is trying to promote VR fitness to consumers through product demonstrations in the mall and elsewhere. The company will host 28 games across the country this year, and winners will receive Amazon's gift cards.
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