The notion of gaming will make you fat is quite indisputable, but not if your gaming involves VirZOOM. What VirZOOM proposes is not entirely new; Wii was the first to make you exercise as you play games, but what VirZOOM is offering you is the next level of realism, which involves, naturally, virtual reality. It lets you drive a car, ride the mythical unicorn, fly like a bee and whatnot – all while pedaling to keep your in-game character/vehicle moving. Purpose-built triggers and buttons affords further control as you go about gaming, or should we say, gamercise. Instead of being a couch gamer who will eventually get fat munching on nachos as your fingers do all the work, VirZOOM makes you do the legwork, like literally, to keep the game going.
The VirZOOM Bike Controller, as it is called, is outfitted with wireless sensors that tracks all your movements and measures your pedaling speed so your real-world hard work matches the speed of the virtual world. Meaning, the faster you pedal, the faster you go in the VR world. Steering is by leaning, while action buttons, triggers and d-pad, which can be found on the handlebars, adds further control to your gameplay. VirZOOM is compatible with major VR headsets with position tracking, including the likes of Sony PlaystationVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Mobile VR is not supported yet, though. VirZOOM will be officially launch at this year’s E3.
You can order the entire system, which includes the VirZOOM Bike Controller, VirZOOM Arcade Suite of VR exercise games (downloadable from the Steam Store), a free PC game controller emulator, a free SDK for the Unity game engine, and free integration with the Strava fitness app, for $399.95 via VirZOOM’s website. If you wait it out, VirZOOM will also be available through major online retailers this July, as well as in-store sometime later this year. Welcome to the future of gaming where getting fat is not an option. Take a look at the rig in action in the video below.
