Gone are the days where gaming equated physical inactivity – exhilarating new virtual reality platforms will now let you exercise while you play.
Gyms are beginning to invest in virtual reality (VR) systems to keep their customers fit, while companies are creating fitness VR games people can do at home.
For instance, a game called Fruit Ninja involves using virtual Samurai swords to cut up flying fruits while another called Drunkn Bar Fight encourages users to throw punches and chuck things around the pub – all in the name of exercise.
Drunkn Bar Fight (pictured) encourages users to throw punches and chuck things around the pub – all in the name of exercise
‘The more you drink, the stronger you feel’, said the developers of Drunkn Bar Fight, which is still in Beta mode and due to be released globally soon.
‘And you are going to need it because you will need to fight everyone at the bar.’
The game will work on both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
‘You will be constantly moving once you enter a game mode and the game pushes you even harder and to be even faster than you were previously’, VR Fitness Insider said on its website, talking about Fruit Ninja.
‘This all makes it one of the best fitness-based games out on the market, if not the best.’
Fruit Ninja is already globally available on PlayStation VR, the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Sound boxing which is available globally on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift is another similar game which encourages users to punch flying objects in time with music.
Companies such as Facebook, who owns Oculus, are creating ‘social VR’ which helps people to socialise at the same time as exercising in virtual settings, writes The Times.
Devices such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive could be adopted by gyms as well as by people exercising at home.
Fitness expert Marialice Kern from San Francisco State University told Wall Street Journal playing these games could be as good for fitness as running up a hill – suggesting it increases oxygen consumption and heart rate like traditional exercise.
Gyms are using virtual reality to make exercising more interesting – with hopes it could be a better motivator than going to classes like bikram yoga and zumba. Pictured are people cycling using Vive VR headsets
As well as being adopted by gyms, headsets such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive (pictured) could also mean that people can exercise at home
A Swiss start-up called Holodia builds VR worlds for gyms that players can enjoy at the same time as using cycling or rowing machines.
In June 2015, a Hong-Kong based gym, Pure Fitness, invested more than £250,000 ($337,000) on a 270-degree VR screen.
Several gyms already have a virtual reality landscape on a big screen to keep people motivated as they exercise.
The Icaros is a full-body system with a gyroscopic design, that was revealed at CES in Las Vegas in January of this year.
Around 200 gyms across the world have installed the machines.
This setup means you have to use your core strength to control the movements of the machine and in the game itself.
The player lies in a plank-like position the entire time while flying through an array of virtual settings.
The Icaros is a full-body system with a gyroscopic design, revealed in Las Vegas in January. This setup means you have to use your core strength to control the movements of the machine
The Icaros setup means you have to use your core strength to control the movements of the machine and in the game itself
Players can choose games depending on their physical abilities, and work up to more difficult settings to increase the exercise benefits.
While they typically ship it with Samsung’s Gear VR headset, it can also work with the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.
‘This is a combined exercise machine and virtual reality flight simulator that turns you into Superman,’ Johannes Scholl of Icaros told Dailymail.com.
‘You have a pretty good core workout while you’re doing that. We can do many different things here – we have a flying simulator, diving underwater with animals, driving a motorcycle, parachuting.’
Dailymail.com tried out the Icaros, and found it was surprisingly easy to get the hang of – and really fun to play. But, you’ll certainly feel the workout
Once you’re horizontal on it, you can move your shoulders forward to bring the system downward. Moving your shoulders back will pull you back up to a standing position. To move side to side, just move your hips
The movements on the platform correspond with the actions in the headset.
So, if you’re playing the flight simulator and trying to move through the hoops, you move your body to guide the game.
The Icaros has a wide range of movement, allowing the player to top all the way forward almost until their head is at the ground.
However, VR headsets still involve using a number of wires and are also bulky – but experts believe during the next five years these headsets will become lighter and more comfortable.
Currently doctors also encourage people to take a ten minute break from using VR each half an hour.