From ulrich@world.std.com Sun Nov 20 23:21:18 1994 Return-Path: Received: from mx4.u.washington.edu by stein2.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA16208; Sun, 20 Nov 94 23:21:18 -0800 Received: from hitl-new.hitl.washington.edu by mx4.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW94.10/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA21350; Sun, 20 Nov 94 23:21:18 -0800 Received: by hitl.hitl.washington.edu; id AA02087; Sun, 20 Nov 1994 23:18:00 -0800 Received: from uucp4.UU.NET by relay3.UU.NET with SMTP id QQxqyf25035; Mon, 21 Nov 1994 02:21:14 -0500 Received: from world.UUCP by uucp4.UU.NET with UUCP/RMAIL ; Mon, 21 Nov 1994 02:20:55 -0500 Received: by world.std.com (5.65c/Spike-2.0) id AA15543; Mon, 21 Nov 1994 02:11:26 -0500 Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Path: ulrich From: ulrich@world.std.com (Thatcher Ulrich) Subject: Re: APPS: VR and physical Fitness Message-Id: Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] References: <3ag88t$n3h@nntp1.u.washington.edu> Date: Mon, 21 Nov 1994 07:11:24 GMT Lines: 46 Apparently-To: uunet!sci-virtual-worlds@uunet.uu.net Status: OR Craig Foote u (foot2340@mach1.wlu.ca) wrote: : I am a student at WLU and am doing a marketing project on a new : kind of fitness equipment. We are proposing a rowing machine, exercise : bike and stairclimber all in combination with VR. We would appreciate : any information that may be able to assist us. We would also appreciate : any comments on feasibility of this idea or any suggestions as to design : or software. : Craig Foote : Please reply to me at: E-mail: FOOT2340@MACH1.WLU.CA FYI... The Tectrix VRBike is a product along these lines that has just been released. You might want to give them a call at (714) 380-8082 and see if you can get a brochure. Also, there are blurbs in _Wired_, Sep 1994 page 40; _Sports Illustrated_, Sep 1994, near the front, but unfortunately only in the subscriber edition; _Playboy_, Dec 1994 page 219 (lots of good articles as well :-). There are a bunch of similar blurbs in other current magazines and newspapers, as well as ads in Club Industry magazine (which you need to look at anyway if you're doing a marketing project). The company I work for, CyberGear Inc., did much of the mechanical design, and all of the software for the VRBike. The machine integrates a number of software and hardware technologies in an effort to make working out FUN. The user pedals through a virtual world which contains roads, trees, hills, buildings, other bikes, etc. The user has complete freedom to navigate (with certain constraints -- you can't pedal through trees or walls, for instance) and interact with the virtual world. The pedal resistance reflects virtual intertia, rolling and air drag, incline, and obstacles. There's a fan which blows proportional to virtual speed. There are stereo sound effects that go with objects and events. Several bikes can be networked together so that a number of users can share the same virtual world (they can enter races together, knock each other around, or just go exploring). The visual display is a simple 20" color TV-resolution RGB monitor driven by a 486 based computer. The software is delivered on CD-ROM. The product retails for ~$7K. -Thatcher Ulrich CyberGear, Inc.