Virtual Reality in Fitness, and where this Technology is heading
There is no doubt virtual reality is at the forefront of innovation. With technology that offers such a unique experience the opportunities are rapidly growing. Virtual reality is interactive 3D images that are computer-generated to portray specific environments. With major companies like FaceBook, Google and Sony investing, there are billions of dollars being used to promote and grow this technology. The fitness industry is an ideal match considering the demands for interesting ways to workout are growing. With headsets like Oculus Rift or Vive (HTC) the options are increasing quickly. The virtual reality industry has focused heavily of entertainment and gaming, but numerous developers, investors and startups are putting their money toward a different path. Virtual reality with fitness and medical fields are gaining traction. With many recent startups in the fitness field like Zwift, HOLOFIT, Widerun, etc we will soon be able to work out in any location imaginable. Picture a cold winter day, you throw on your goggles and you are in a tropical paradise riding your bike on the beach. I’ll be explaining some of today’s cutting edge technology and dive into what our future home gym might look like. I’ll primarily talk about biking and how this technology has focused on working around the stationary bike. In addition to spinning I will talk about what I found to be interesting and what I foresee happening to this industry
Widerun
This California Startup has revolutionized the stationary bike experience. Like many of these start ups Widerun is compatible with the Oculus Rift and Samsung’s headsets. Widerun provides numerous virtual locations that you choose from to spin at your leisure. Widerun allows you to interact with friends over a live network to promote a healthy competitive experience. With locations like the great wall of China or Downtown San Francisco Widerun probably has the most variety out of the competition. In addition to maps based on real places, Widerun has many maps that remind me of something you see in a video game.
For example, there is a winter map that is super mountainous and gives you the feeling that you’re riding through a snowpocalypse. There was also maps that is in a ghost town and you are being chased by zombies. Its creative maps like these that Widerun has really benefited from. With a playful side of this app it’s a nice bridge from video gaming to fitness. I think that Widerun has capitalized on the opportunity to make this more light hearted, and I think they’ve grown an audience having such variety in there maps. Most of these products require the headset and it’s encouraged to pair that with a smart trainer. Smart trainers allow you to pair with your phone, laptop, tablet etc to then provide date of your power, cadence and speeds. For example, if you were virtually climbing a road up a mountain, your device would tell the smart trainer to create resistance simulating the actual feeling of climbing a mountain. As mentioned in the book The Inevitable, we are moving toward a SMART world. I presume that we will be riding fully SMART bikes in the future. SMART trainers are just another device for us to be integrated into. I get the feeling that there is a wider range of fitness levels that use this app. This product is appealing to everybody with a hometrainer and or access to a stationary bike.
Zwift
Zwift is possibly the most hyped turbo trainer app that is gaining serious traction quickly. With a small monthly fee Zwift has provided an interactive reality that allows you to race, join group rides and explore on real roads . Like all of these products the real benefit of this technology is to help alleviate some of the boredom associated with indoor trainer riding. Possibly the most attractive feature of Zwift is the racing. Just like online gaming, Zwift hosts races held all over the world including some on well known maps that are created from actual race courses. Zwift in now compatible with the popular virtual reality headset Oculus Rift, setting the experience at the top compared to competitors. Zwift uses a subscription model that allows you full access to this world. To get started racing you head over to the Zwift calendar on their mobile app and pick from the upcoming races. Based on your past performances and also Strava records you will be placed into a racing category accordingly.
As you begin to race your placement will depend on the wattage you are putting through the trainer. Just as in a real race settling you will notice that if you are directly behind somebody(drafting) it will take less effort to keep your position just as if you were riding in real life. With a live leaderboard and wattage data on screen, Zwift allows you to monitor your efforts. I will say that again there is a wide range of fitness levels using this product, but this app is targeted to riders that have a competitive bone and like to compare themselves to others. Strava is an athletic tracker that uses GPS data to to keep a record of all your training. Strava has creating a leaderboard feature that compares your time to others that have ridden that same stretch of land(Strava calls these segments). Zwift has partnered with Strava to have leader boards in the virtual Zwift world as well. I’m an avid Strava user I noticed an athlete I follow that had a ride in London. I soon came to find out the ride was done virtually using Zwift. As I mentioned earlier, Zwift is gaining serious popularity and has perfected specifically the live racing feature.
Other Fitness Apps
Runtastic is an general fitness based app that focuses on providing an ecosystem for tracking and managing health and fitness data. With the ability to pick a virtual location you can start your workout anywhere in minutes. Runtastic provides a trainer that will show you how to perform your exercises properly. Anything from squats, push-ups, to core strength this app promises to get you in shape with the motivation of your personal trainer and your logged gains. Along with workouts, Runtastic provides a health and nutrition guide. By telling the app what you’re eating it will start to analysis your caloric intake and adjust your fitness plan accordingly. By creating a personalized experience and advice these apps are showing signs in popularity as well. You would never have to buy a personal trainer again, this app cuts out the middleman and brings it to you direct in the comfort of your own home.
HOLOFIT is another good example of an app taking stationary fitness equipment and making it into a productive, positive tool to train. HOLOFIT works best with a rowing machine being that it simulates a kayaker steering and paddling its boat in various bodies of water. Just like the other apps HOLOFIT offers multiple maps that are realistic and some far fetched keeping the entertainment value in mind.
Another path that I thought was interesting is virtual reality in military training. Every branch of military in the US has used virtual reality technology to help simulate a real life combat scenarios. The Dismounted Soldier Training System is the first virtual reality training system for US infantryman. With tens of millions of dollars being put into this technology this product simulates real life combat situations that these branches might face. Between the Special Forces, paratrooper and the Air Force this technology has found its way into helping our most trusted and relied upon military personnel. Now this is not purely based on fitness and isn’t open to the public, but it is physically demanding. With this innovation the Dismounted Soldier Training System is bridging that gap from physical to the tactical side training. As these programs get developed we’ve started seeing these devices taking people’s job and bring the experience directly to you. Who knows, in 10 years the military could be using headsets to simulate all basic training and other the many military preliminary training. This technology will be taking away jobs from people, but it’s our responsibility to work through and innovate and be creative. With innovation comes opportunity we just need to be on the forefront of the movement to not risk losing our jobs completely. As sad as it is, robots and technology will be taking over most simple tasks and duties. We have to stay open minded as we see this coming, and work with the new findings and issues we will start encounter.
My number one concern with the headsets as someone who is active is the wearability. With what looks like a bulky pair of ski goggles, the shape and size of the virtual reality headsets is concerning to an athletic skeptic. As we all know, with time the sexiness will come and headsets will start to slim out as the technology becomes available. As for now the goggles are a bit large and look potentially warm to keep on your head. Another problem that I see being resolved is the visibility throw the headset. To my best understanding the visibility and wearability is poor if you are not in a virtual space. I predict that the next great headset will be slimmer as well as something you could keep on your head easily. Lastly I wanted to discus how waterproof or sweat resistant these headsets are. Most headset providers promise that these devices are water resistant, but I have to wonder how the headsets really feel if you were sweating profusely wearing them. Would they slide off your face? Would they be compromised from sweat? Under the weight of the headset would sweat make them slid down? Just a few concerns I see arising from a training perspective.
What Virtual Reality Fitness will be in Five Years
I’m not sure I can predict accurately as to where fitness will be in five years, but I know it will look vastly different from how it does today. Everything in this day an age is being tracked and all devices are turning smarter. With an increase of data being collected these SMART products are learning, and knowledge is being collected quickly. In five years I don’t see why we couldn’t strap on a headset and go for your favorite local bike ride or run inside your home. I think our options will be endless. I foresee you being able to preview any road/trail and workout in any city/country in the world. With people carrying around these devices they are gaining information that will be broken down and used to further enhance our fitness experience. I was listening to Joe Rogan’s podcast and he was explaining how virtual reality in MMA or boxing could be a huge advantage to training as well. Imagine you’re a fighter and you were able to spar with your opponent. In the future app you might have ability to virtually box the top 50 fighters in the world.
As a professional fighter if you had the ability to practice with your opponent and learn his tendencies you could be at a huge advantage going into that fight. The technology is not quite there to make this a real practical training ad yet, but thats where they’re heading. Getting back to biking and training those same ideas would apply to your preparation. There are some classic Tour De France stages that have these iconic courses. As a professional or even a bike enthusiast you could gain either knowledge to the course and or get the pleasure of virtually riding some roads you dream about riding. For new racers you could hop on the trainer and with a POV angel playing through your headset you could get an idea of how to ride in a group setting. You could gain skill and start to understand the movement of the sport. In conclusion I think that virtual reality is the future period. With such amazing opportunities being created I believe that these headsets will be a part of our lives a lot sooner then with think. The options are vast and the implications are endless. Whether we are using virtual reality for fitness, shopping or entertainment I believe this technology will be integrated within all of our lives in the very near future.
-By Robert Mazza
