VR和健身的未来

加快数据洞察的速度

数字技术已经改变了健身. Your smartphone counts your daily steps; lightweight, wireless-enabled watches and other “wearables” can monitor your heart rate and vital statistics; and gym equipment with built-in workout tracking and video monitors can take your workout to anyplace on the planet.

Before you take a breather from your virtual at-home spin class or let your smart watch sync with your sleep app and hourly analytics, 为虚拟现实(VR)腾出空间. VR不仅会增强整体锻炼体验, but it will also address obstacles to exercise — a lack of motivation and our natural preference to conserve energy and avoid activity.

Because VR is emerging as the next big computing and consumer platform (following the emergence of the internet and mobile devices), it should be no surprise to see VR driving innovation across 行业 and use cases, 比如建筑, 心理健康和教育. 所以，为什么不是你的锻炼，或者你今天应该去的锻炼?

What if a VR headset became as natural to use as your laptop or smartphone? How would that affect your life, specifically your daily workout at the gym?

VR机遇

瑞安DeLuca and Preston Lewis spent 17 years growing a leading e¬ commerce site that provided information about sports and fitness and sold nutritional supplements. It became very successful, with more than 30 million fitness enthusiasts visiting it each month.

In 2015, the duo decided to start a new venture combining their loves for fitness and technology. 三年后，黑盒VR推出了虚拟现实健身房.

“我们从健身行业吸取了经验教训, 为什么大多数人不坚持锻炼计划. 他们一月份报名去健身房，三月份就不去了. 他们失误. 他们不再出现，即使是一周一次. Even the most advanced scientists and doctors haven’t figured out a solution to this problem.

我们非常了解健身，也非常了解游戏的成瘾性, 所以我们决定, 让我们把传统的健身房锻炼变成一种游戏, 让我们把这个游戏放到最新的计算平台上, 虚拟现实!’”

黑盒VR并不是唯一一家进军VR健身市场的公司.

• WalkOVR 发明了一个传感器系统，可以固定在你的膝盖上, 脚踝和躯干记录下半身的运动, making it possible to run in virtual environments while staying put in reality. The product was designed with fitness in mind but is also compatible with games that are not necessarily fitness related.
• BoxVR获得了VR Fitness Insider的奖励 2017年度最佳VR健身游戏 for its at-home VR boxing workout where the user punches to a rhythmic beat. Developed by fitness instructors, it’s like a VR Tae-Bo video, minus the three easy payments of $19.99加上运费和处理费.
• VirZOOM的“VZfit传感器套件”安装在任何固定自行车上，将其变成VR骑行体验. In the VR world, the cyclist can bicycle through real destinations or fly Pegasus through a canyon.

Turning workouts into a game is a genius move — capitalizing on our human need for instant rewards and achievements from a game versus waiting days or even weeks to see physical results from a workout.

说实话吧, 锻炼可能是一种痛苦, 而且不是“麻烦”这个词的意思，而是字面上的痛苦. 锻炼的目的是疲劳, 削弱和分解肌肉，让它们重建得比以前更强壮. “一分耕耘，一分收获”这句老话的出现是有原因的. Exercising in a VR environment helps to trick our mind into pushing through the pain because it’s a fun experience.

亚伦斯坦顿, VR健康与运动研究所的创始人, 说, “VR真正擅长的是分散你的注意力, 这在锻炼中非常重要. 当你分心的时候, 你有一个目标，或者你有一些你正在关注的事情, 你不会以同样的方式感知不适.”

你是否在一场精彩的篮球比赛后醒来感到疼痛, 在山坡上滑雪一天, 或者一个愉快的下午园艺? 这是一个相似的概念——你在做你喜欢的事情, 所以与其把注意力集中在再做一次的痛苦上, 你专注于正在完成的活动和目标.

VR锻炼对运动员的好处是显而易见的, 但许多追求VR健身梦想的公司呢?

VR健身的市场潜力是惊人的. 根据国际健康网 & 运动俱乐部协会, the $30 billion health and fitness industry in the United States has been growing by at least 3% to 4% annually for the last decade, 没有任何放缓的迹象. 2017年，健身俱乐部吸引了7000多万消费者, 个人健身俱乐部会员总数达60人.900万年. 美国大约有38,000家健身房.S. 一旦你看到了市场潜力, 不难理解为什么这个市场有大量投资.

50,000个数据点

VR锻炼的一个关键好处是一致性和跟踪性. Entire markets are devoted to tracking workouts; you may be wearing one on your wrist right now. Virtual reality hardware is designed to track movements to enable the user to interact with the virtual environment. 这些传感器和加速度计甚至可以跟踪最微小的运动, 使它成为一种非常有效的跟踪锻炼的媒介.

例如, 每次“黑匣子”VR训练都能捕捉到50多个,000个数据点, 人工智能(AI)可以在飞行中定制锻炼. AI is the personal trainer who immediately changes the resistance levels and keeps you from working beyond your capabilities or doing the wrong motion repeatedly.

但是怎么处理这些数据呢? DeLuca and Lewis learned firsthand that the cloud accelerates 公司 formation and growth in today’s start-and-launch economy. 所有的锻炼和个人数据都需要存储在某个地方, and 黑匣子VR are choosing to use the cloud experts to help them rather than worrying about it themselves.They explained that unlike their first 公司 they don’t have to spend valuable time dealing with server issues — they can now leave that to cloud providers.

云 providers are among the largest consumers of DRAM and NAND storage solutions because of the vast quantities of data they need to move, 加工和储存. 幸运的是，VR健身公司和50,在每次锻炼中生成的000个数据点, 微米 is devoted to supporting the cloud with its memory solutions and technical expertise to maximize efficiency. 这意味着可以不间断地访问这些数据点.

“We see VR as having important implications beyond fitness and personal health innovation,克里斯·巴克斯特说, 他是美光公司嵌入式业务部门的营销副总裁. “We believe you’re going to see VR transforming a variety of critical areas including Healthcare and Education. The reach and adoption of VR is anticipated to be widespread and very impactful as entrepreneurs and developers take advantage of its full potential. VR体验的互动性, 包括数据收集, machine learning and intelligent feedback will enable a wide range of solutions for consumers, 公司和基础设施.”

这是创造性思维, brave entrepreneurs and critical technologies that are changing the world to enrich life. What VR brings to the fitness game is transforming the way people exercise. 升级你的角色有了全新的意义. The effort you put into your VR workout will have immediate in-game rewards and long-term health benefits. 确定, it may feel like you are playing a game and having fun; in reality, you’ll be upgrading the most important character in the storyline — yourself.

Continue reading part II of the VR fitness series: Can Playing a Video Game Match Riding in the Tour de France?