The idea behind virtual exercise is to make it more immersive. You’re not just running on a treadmill like a hamster in a wheel. You’re not just staring at the back of the head of the person in front of you in your spin class. It’s not even a matter of just trying to watch a sitcom to distract yourself from what you’re doing. VR is being used in the hopes of changing your whole experience.

Virtual Reality Exercise as Immersive Fitness

The idea behind virtual reality exercise is to plunge you into an experience that is more engaging than your real environment. Some fitness clubs are already starting to adopt this tech in the hopes of making workouts more appealing to their clients. They’re calling it “immersive fitness.”

In this way, virtual reality doesn’t just change what you see as a 2D screen would do. It can change as much or as little around you as the technology in use will allow. While some tech will make it seem as though you’re cycling along a wooded trail while you’re on your stationary bike, others go much further.

The Whole VR Experience

Immersive fitness using virtual reality exercise technology can change what you see, of course. That said, it can also change what you hear. Even more, some training environments, such as a handful of gyms across the united states, try for all the senses. Their class called “The Trip” is features floor-to-ceiling screens in 3D, synchronized to music. Some will even incorporate scents into their experiences.

The Trip is a spin class that takes its participants through fantasy lands, along forest trails and over bridges. The room itself is lit primarily by the 3D screens. That said, the virtual reality experience is incorporated right into the bikes. The bikes tilt up and down and side to side in order to suit the trail they’re riding on the three-dimensional screen.

A More Stimulating Workout

The virtual reality exercise experience takes participants in these classes away from the monotony of a typical gym class. It’s not just about whether or not they like the music being played anymore. Instead, you can feel that you’re not at the gym at all. You’re escaping your daily life for an experience that is nearly meditative while providing a workout at the same time.