Hapana is adding to its gamification arsenal, launching a new “challenge” app feature for boutique and group fitness studios. The all-in-one fitness software provider is partnering with Strong Pilates, helping to launch the Australian brand’s inaugural “Feel Strong” running challenge that goes until March 26th.

With the challenge feature, Hapana now allows operators to stoke the competitive fires of their members, spurring engagement and retention. 

The platform allows boutique fitness studios to set up group challenges either with fixed time frames, like Strong Pilates has done, or via a purchase-based start for individual enrollments. After that, operators can add goals or levels for members. Screens illustrate progress along the way, tracking metrics and displaying them with visually captivating graphics. Users are also permitted to share their achievements across social media.

“Challenges are essential for boutique and group fitness studios, fostering engagement and member retention,” said Jarron Aizen, CEO and founder of Hapana. “Existing software solutions haven’t kept pace with evolving market dynamics, and Hapana is here to bridge that gap. We are proud to offer the best member app in the market, continuously innovating while other providers lag behind.”

As gamification often does, Hapana sees the launch of challenges as an opportunity to give gym-goers more in terms of helping them reach their fitness goals. That leads to benefits for operators as well. 

“The challenge app, with the potential to engage thousands of members simultaneously, empowers them to track their progress, hold themselves accountable, and stay motivated – not just for challenges, but also for trials and overall fitness goals,” Aizen added. “This fosters a sense of community for our customers, ultimately driving member conversion.”

Having gotten the first crack at the feature, Strong Pilates was quick to agree. 

“Hapana’s challenge capability is game-changing for our business, and we are incredibly grateful to the Hapana team for delivering this innovative solution,” said Michael Ramsey, co-founder of Strong Pilates. “The challenge app is not just a feature; it’s a powerful tool to engage our members, welcome newcomers and ultimately convert them into loyal members of the Strong Pilates family.”

This launch represents another win in what’s already been a successful past five years for Hapana. Since moving its base of operations from Sydney to the United States in 2018, the software provider has twice doubled in size, partnering with top brands like F45 Training, Body Fit Training (BFT) and Gold’s Gym alongside Strong Pilates. 

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Boutique fitness is more popular than ever, but the industry has at times been criticized for relying on fads and flash more than sustainable, effective workout routines. 

No one can level that line of criticism against Body Fit Training (BFT), the fast-growing boutique fitness franchise established in Melbourne, Australia, by Cameron Falloon, a decorated strength and conditioning coach who once served as Princess Diana’s personal trainer. 

Inspired by his time training professional athletes in the Australian Football League (AFL), Falloon created BFT in 2017 to bring strength and conditioning principles like progression, periodization and program design to the world of group fitness. The idea behind BFT, Falloon says, was to give everyday people access to the same elite-level strength and conditioning tools as AFL athletes, scaled for ability level and time constraints. 

“I found that there was a lot of sameness in the (boutique fitness) industry, and I didn’t see a lot of consideration around periodization or progression or really spending time on things like exercise selection for different individuals, like you would with an elite athlete,” Falloon tells Athletech News of market research he did before launching BFT. “How could I bring (my) knowledge and experience and make that accessible to the mainstream?”

Falloon was onto something. BFT has quickly spread across the globe with 290-plus studios open and 720-plus franchise licenses sold across several continents. Boutique fitness franchisor Xponential Fitness acquired BFT in late 2021 and has begun rapidly expanding the brand in the United States, having already sold almost 300 licenses in North America.

A lot of planning, technology and time has gone into making BFT workouts effective, scalable and engaging for members. But at the end of the day, Falloon believes the concept’s popularity is rooted in its focus on results above all else. 

“We get too caught up in trends as an industry, versus delivering the basic fundamentals at a really high level,” he says. “I think once you get that right, then you can start to explore and maybe get a little bit more experimental.”

Inside a BFT Workout

BFT workouts are modeled after the strength and conditioning programs Falloon devised for AFL clubs like Geelong, Port Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, but scaled to be safe and accessible for everyday people. 

Currently, BFT offers 14 different strength and conditioning classes, each of which lasts 50 minutes and is scientifically designed to help members burn fat and build muscle while getting a full-body workout. Classes are performed in groups of around 36 people and include some combination of compound weightlifting exercises like deadlifts, bench presses and kettlebell swings, bodyweight movements like box jumps and pull-ups, and cardio work including running, cycling and rowing. The specific mix of exercises depends on class type.

Importantly, every BFT class is structured around an eight-week cycle, which allows members to measure their progress over time, just as pro athletes would during their training. Programming for each eight-week training block is carefully devised by BFT at the corporate level, and standardized programs are sent to every BFT franchise owner across the globe.

This ensures consistency, although Falloon says BFT empowers its coaches to modify or substitute certain movements to tailor the workout to the ability levels of individual class members. 

“If a member has poor range of movement in their shoulder or they’ve got some shoulder impingement, we’re not going to force them to do a military press like everyone else is doing in the class,” he explains. “We give (coaches) the tools to be able to scale that to the individual.”

Gamification Meets Strength Training

A highly calculated approach to program design isn’t the only thing that sets BFT apart from its competitors in the boutique fitness space. The strength and conditioning franchise is highly innovative in the way it uses heart-rate-tracking tech to gamify workouts, including strength training. 

Looking to drive member engagement, Falloon and his team created BFT³, a proprietary heart-rate tracking system that rewards members who get their heart rates to within specifically prescribed zones based on that day’s workout type. 

“There’s a lot of fantastic heart-rate products out there, but the gamification side of it is really lacking because they’re only ever rewarding a higher heart rate,” Falloon explains, noting that for strength-training exercises like a deadlift, the goal isn’t to get your heart beating as fast as possible, but to get to within a certain range that’s deemed optimal for the amount of weight lifted and reps being performed. 

“We’ve actually been able to use heart rate to gamify strength training, which is a world-first,” Falloon says.

During class, BFT members can see their heart rates displayed on-screen. Once class finishes, a leaderboard is displayed and members are rewarded with Gold, Silver or Bronze medals based on how close they got their heart rate to the target zone.

“It’s an instantaneous reward that creates community and a talking point,” Falloon says of BFT³ and the leaderboard approach. “You see people as soon as they finish a session, they’re high-fiving, staring at the screen waiting to see if they’ve got their gold medal.”

BFT also bakes other gamification features into its app to drive long-term engagement. For example, members earn status levels for in-class achievements, starting out as a rookie and progressing all the way to immortality, a journey that takes around six years to complete. 

The gamification features seem to be successful at driving member engagement. On average, BFT members attend class four to five times a week, which is significantly higher than the average for the boutique fitness industry, which hovers around two to three visits a week.

Global Expansion Plans

Falloon tells ATN that when he launched BFT back in 2017, the goal was to build a global brand.

Today, BFT has over 720 locations sold and more than 290 studios open, with a presence in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Spain. 

In the U.S., BFT is well on its way to becoming a household name in boutique fitness. Since acquiring the brand in 2021, the Irvine, California-based Xponential has been rapidly expanding BFT’s footprint in North America.

Looking ahead, Falloon says he and Xponential share the same growth strategy in the U.S. and across the globe.

“We’ve got a common goal to have no ceiling on our growth but at the same time, don’t compromise the core product or the financial well-being of our franchisees,” the BFT founder says.

This article has been updated with clarifications on BFT’s expansion plans and global studio count.

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Treadmills are officially coming to Wahoo Fitness, promising to take users and the company itself down new paths in 2024. 

The indoor and outdoor fitness supplier will launch the Kickr Run Smart Treadmill in the United States within the coming year and globally by 2025. With lines of smart bikes, wearables, and other fitness accessories up until this point, this resembles a groundbreaking move with the Kickr Run being a first-of-its-kind product for the Atlanta-based Wahoo Fitness. 

The software within the treadmill is equally forward-thinking. The Kickr Run includes a new sensing system called “Run Free Mode,” which allows users to change pace in a hands-free manner. High-speed motors react within milliseconds to a user’s position on the running platform to naturally adapt to changes in speed. This allows runners to undergo a seamless cardio exercise experience where their feet dictate their pace rather than a series of buttons. 

“I have been working behind the scenes with a very talented group of Wahooligans developing Kickr Run for over 7 years – so I am delighted to see it come to market,” said Chip Hawkins, founder of Wahoo Fitness. “As passionate runners – we wanted to create the most realistic experience and create a tool that helps people improve, become better athletes and achieve their goals. The Kickr Run will revolutionize indoor running, in the same way that the Kickr did for indoor cycling over a decade ago.”

Gamification & More

The treadmill also features Zwift Run, a gamified mode that allows users to feel changes in gradient while trotting down virtual pathways. This, alongside innovative lateral tilting capabilities, installs a more accurate simulation of an outdoor running environment from within the comfort of your own home or facility. 

Wahoo’s heart rate monitors, smartwatches and other accessories also connect to the Kickr Run to back the product with as much tech-enabled support as possible. USB ports to charge devices, WiFi connectivity and a port for a hardwired connection are available as well. Even the little things, such as water bottle holders spaced around an integrated laptop, are covered.

The Kickr Run will make its first public appearance at the Boston Run Show on Saturday, January 27th, 2024. Live demos will run through that weekend.

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San Francisco-based Talofa Games has raised $6.3 million in seed funding for its mobile fitness and future initiatives, after garnering over ten million downloads for its free app, Run Legends.

The funding round was led by Chamaeleon and included participation from A16Z Games Speedrun, Basis Set Ventures, Insight Partners and 1Up Ventures.

Founded in 2019 by CEO Jenny Xu, a marathon runner and fitness enthusiast, Talofa Games recently launched Run Legends 1.0, a narrated competitive fitness game.

Using a gamified approach, Run Legends encourages players to take the game outside, opting for running or walking. Unlike other immersive games, Run Legends doesn’t require a high-priced headset — headphones, supportive shoes and comfortable clothing are all that are gently suggested to enjoy the fitness game. 

The interactive game consists of engaging “missions” and allows users to set their own pace as they play alone or alongside their friends, unlocking rewards and new missions. The pace is entirely self-directed, with players able to speed up or slow down to change their skill to combat enemies they encounter along the way. Although they are enemies, the characters are humorous — with players running into a “hyper-competitive Chad,” a quite muscular and rage-filled enemy. 

Aside from its entertainment and fitness value, Run Legends is notably easy to launch and user-friendly. The app also allows users to enable step tracking and opt to receive notifications for in-game events and to claim rewards. 

“I began making games when I was 12. Today, we’re announcing Talofa’s $6.3M funding!” Xu posted on LinkedIn.

“Having shipped over 10 games like Animatronic Jumpscare Factory and Five Tries At Love as a teen, I dreamed of combining the two things I love the most (fitness and game development!) into something bigger,” she continued. “As a long-distance runner that heard so often that running ‘sucks’ or is boring and painful, I set my sights on creating a game experience that makes not just this activity but other forms of wellness compelling and accessible.”

While Run Legends uses a relatively simple concept, it’s had impressive health benefits for its players.

“We’ve had players telling us they lost five or 10 pounds in a single month. So I think just the impact has been pretty clear,” Xu told VentureBeat. “Fitness and gaming do not need to be mutually exclusive, and we are extremely proud to build a game that enables players to improve their health while having fun and playing with friends. We look forward to working with our players to scale this new social fitness experience and create a happier, healthier world.”

Talofa is now searching for a senior product manager to join its team, the company has said.

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Meta Quest and Puma have collaborated to host virtual and mixed-reality events at Puma store locations in Germany to extol the benefits of “the world’s smallest gym” — one without membership contracts and crowds.

The experiential concept allows guests to explore the diverse workouts offered by Meta Quest 3 and select from a variety of fitness experiences, including HIIT, boxing, Zumba, yoga and more. The immersive VR and MR workouts are held within a specially designed 2m x 2m space.

“It’s January and gyms are notoriously crowded,” wrote Stephania Silveira, group creative director of Reality Labs at Meta. “To demonstrate that you don’t need a lot of space or equipment for a great workout anywhere, Meta Quest teamed up with Puma Group to create ‘The World’s Smallest Gym’ – pods in high-footfall areas across Berlin, where consumers can try a range of curated fitness experiences.”

Supporting the engaging Meta Quest x Puma pop-up is NBA player and Puma athlete Dennis Schröder, who is praising the “World’s Smallest Gym” on his social media pages and encouraging consumers to book a session at Puma to give Meta Quest 3’s VR and MR fitness offerings a whirl.

The Meta Quest x Puma events will be held at Puma’s store in Berlin until February 3, in the East Side Mall until January 26th and in the Mall of Berlin from January 29 to February 3. Training sessions last around 15-20 minutes.

Fitness Brands Embrace Meta Quest 3

Meta has heavily invested in VR fitness, beginning with its successful battle with the FTC to acquire Within, maker of popular VR fitness app Supernatural, for a reported $400 million. 

The release of the new Meta Quest 3 headset, which dropped in late 2023, showed advancements in virtual fitness along with mixed reality capabilities like full-color passthrough and natural depth perception so users can incorporate accessories such as weights into their fitness experience.

Xponential Fitness recently joined the Meta Quest 3 platform, bringing three of its most popular studio brands – Club Pilates, Pure Barre and StretchLab – to the virtual world.

“As these technologies become more mainstream, we’ve seized the opportunity to enhance immersion while maintaining the efficiency of 2D digital fitness,” Garrett Marshall, Xponential+ president, told Athletech News. “Unlike typical VR fitness games, the Quest 3 headset’s technological advancements empower us to deliver proven workouts from leading fitness brands, all while harnessing the best virtual and social features.”

Les Mills has also signed onto Meta Quest 3 with XR Bodycombat, a mixed-reality martial arts fitness game where players can blend their real-life environment with a virtual training space.

FitXR is also taking advantage of Meta’s advancements with the recent launch of Slam, adding to its robust line of multiplayer workout studios across Box, Dance, HIIT, Sculpt, Combat and Zumba.

Sam Cole, FitXR founder and CEO, told Athletech News that the gamification of Slam allows FitXR to reach “an entirely new group of users who are anxious about exercise, and young people who are addicted to sedentary gaming.”

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FitXR, a virtual fitness platform featuring a range of workout classes, is leaning into gamified fitness with the launch of Slam, a new immersive mixed reality (MR) game with passthrough capabilities that customize to a user’s surroundings.

The latest offering joins FitXR’s six other multiplayer workout studios, Box, Dance, HIIT, Sculpt, Combat and Zumba, which launched last November in partnership with the iconic dance fitness brand. FitXR showcased Slam on Wednesday during CES 2024.

Available on Meta Quest and Pico XR headsets and using spatial sensing algorithms that can convert any room into a 3D game, Slam users can embark on an adaptable, active gaming journey with two modes — timed or survival.

For those who want complete control over their workout — from difficulty, duration and music — Slam’s timed version is ideal, challenging players to hit as many cues as possible in a selected time. Players who want a truly game-like experience can select survival mode, a challenging experience where they are encouraged to give it their all to hit cues in less time as the game becomes gradually harder.

“The gamification aspect of Slam has allowed us to reach an entirely new group of users who are anxious about exercise, and young people who are addicted to sedentary gaming,” Sam Cole, FitXR founder and CEO, told Athletech News.

MR Fitness Offers Many Possibilities

While he notes extended-reality (XR) fitness has been largely concentrated on cardio, Cole says FitXR is excited about the opportunities that mixed reality, which blends the physical and digital worlds, to other types of fitness like strength and mobility. 

Having passthrough capabilities helps break down the barrier between the headset and the user, enhancing the overall experience, explained Cole.

“We know that often people are working out in an environment that’s not as inspiring and would prefer a fully immersive environment,” he said. “But for many, it’s important to still have a view of their surroundings – whether you have your kids in the room while you are dancing Zumba, or if you want to grab your wrist weights and do a Sculpt With Weights class halfway through your FitXR session. Some complex fitness movements are much more comfortable when you can see your feet, and passthrough really comes into its own here.”

Motivating People To Move

Delivering an immersive and gamified fitness experience can prompt busy families into building healthy habits and can make even the most fitness-reluctant strap on a headset and forget they are working out. In many ways, blending fitness and gaming with Slam reflects the broader philosophy of FitXR.

“We’ve always said that we are a fitness studio, not a gaming app – but we’re also not your typical fitness studio,” said Cole. “FitXR is built by a diverse team of people who are passionate about fitness, but not from the typical fitness industry. This is something I’m very proud of, as it allows us to serve such a diverse user base. We’ve been able to bring fitness to countless people who were completely sedentary before working out in VR.”

Although FitXR and its offerings can appeal to busy consumers who struggle to attend traditional fitness classes or hit the gym, Cole says the company’s core mission is to make fitness accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

“FitXR was born from the frustration of an industry that caters only to the select few,” he said. “We are here to reshape the fitness landscape and empower the 80% who have been overlooked, intimidated, and discouraged by traditional fitness. We are a movement for movement.”

The New Normal?

As Cole puts it, MR and VR tech is quickly replacing the smartphone. He predicts a big shift in the industry:

“Just like you see people in the gym with mobiles and headphones, it’s a matter of time before you start seeing people enter the gym with headsets or glasses,” he said. “I believe fitness studios will have to start incorporating the technology because in the very near future, customers are going to be bringing them in of their own accord.”

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Going the extra mile has never looked more attractive. Muuvr, the fitness app that motivates runners, cyclists and swimmers through reward programs and community engagement, announced a significant investment to expand its platform.

Muuvr surpassed its original funding target with a $4.16 million post-seed funding round, the company announced. That, combined with $1.67 million in founder loans, sets Muuvr’s total capital increase at $5.84 million.

The post-seed funding round was led by what Muuvr described as “influential private individuals and family offices. Investors include 10-time Ironman and Ironman 70.3 World Champion Daniela Ryf as well as four-time Ironman Switzerland Champion Jan van Berkel.

Gamification With Real-Life Rewards

Muuvr launched a beta version of its app back in October, which is currently available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Once completing the free download, users can log in and track their movement during a variety of exercise activities. In doing so, users earn “Muuvs” which work as a virtual currency capable of unlocking awards, experiences and even products in the Muuvr Marketplace. Users can also connect with others on the platform to share progress and motivate each other

“Exercise and health are so important, both to me as a lifelong athlete and to our society,” Ryf said. “Muuvr offers a mechanism to foster and reward physical activity and healthy behavior, which is why I choose to engage with Muuvr as a sports person and now as an investor.”

More Fitness Funding

Muuvr isn’t the only fitness app to expand its financial resources over the last several months. Ladder, a daily strength training app, closed a $12 million Series A round in early December. Runna, which coaches runners via artificial intelligence (AI), also just brought in $6.3 million. CoPilot, another AI-powered fitness coaching app, recently raised $6.5 million. 

The incoming funds open a variety of doors for Muuvr, which was only just founded in 2022. The company lists app development, marketing and acquisition campaigns and the establishment of new partnerships as areas they intend to flesh out with the new capital. 

“It’s not just about financial backing; it’s a testament to the belief in our purpose to revolutionize how athletes engage with their sport,” said Michael Hartweg, Muuvr co-founder and CEO. “This funding is a catalyst, propelling us towards our dream of creating an unparalleled digital experience that celebrates and rewards the dedication and spirit of every athlete.”

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There’s no shortage of individuals who want to get into fitness and wellness but fail to take the necessary steps to put themselves on a mat, treadmill, or bench. Gym intimidation and general “know-how” are both common obstacles in that journey. F45 Training, the ultra-popular functional fitness franchise, is not only clearing a path forward, but working as a friendly guide along the way.

Despite its size as one of the world’s largest fitness franchises, F45 remains committed to personalized fitness with certified trainers on board to help members overcome setbacks, disabilities, or fitness education shortcomings. The F45 environment, built around a strong culture that promotes camaraderie and support amongst all gym goers, makes member acquisition and retention a major strength for the company as it plots a new path forward under CEO Tom Dowd. 

A Warm Environment

From the jump, F45 walks new members through their local studio to help them feel relaxed and understand that whether they’re someone who works out consistently, hasn’t worked out in several years, or even ever before, that this is a place for them. F45’s coaches play a large role in that, having been trained to safely modify each functional training movement to any member’s individual needs. 

Any fears or insecurities that might hold someone back from a more fit lifestyle are attacked head-on via this introductory process. F45 gyms consider themselves a place for all fitness levels, strengthening each studio’s support system and sense of openness to all. 

“Our big push this year is focusing on getting the people who are afraid to come into the studios, afraid to go into a gym, and really welcome them with open arms by spelling out how easy it is to work at your own pace and how easy it is to start with us because you have a hands-on approach with our trainers,” Dowd tells Athletech News. “We’re going to be there to support them from day one and make sure they’re comfortable in moving through the process. We’re so proud of our culture, the high-fiving and the energy. It’s just a welcoming experience.”

In Q1 of 2024, F45 also plans to launch beginner classes, which focus on less-experienced gym goers just looking to get started. 

“We’re very excited about the beginner classes,” Dowd said. “That’s going to enable people to dip their toe in the water and get in and check it out. It’s amazing to read the statistics on how many folks are just so anxious about working out in front of other people.” 

Tech & Gamification Drive Engagement

F45 also employs cutting-edge technology, specifically gamification, to retain members. With a wide variety of software at their fingertips, members can track their progress and compete against themselves, or others to stoke their competitive fire and build on their accomplishments. 

F45’s new Lionheart tech is one example of the tools in play for F45 members to keep them entertained and motivated. The wearable monitor tracks heart rate, effort levels and calories burned during workouts. Users are encouraged to hit certain marks while wearing the device as their progress is shown in real-time with the wearable connected to in-studio F45 TVs.

“This year we’re really working on engagement through technology. The Lionheart experience, measurements and gamification are going to be a big deal for us,” Dowd said, “The tech is designed to help members understand the progress that they make at F45; it plays a great role in keeping members motivated and supporting their training goals.”

Other tech-based advancements at F45 include the brand’s training app, which grants users a one-stop spot to book classes, check out meal plan options, check up on progress and work out remotely. F45 also carries its own radio station “Fitradio,” which features upbeat tunes combined with F45 ambassador voiceovers to enhance one’s workout experience.  

Leaving No Stone Unturned

Along with its beginner classes, F45 offers members three main workout styles to cater to the masses. In addition to its signature functional training workouts, F45 recently launched two new brands, FS8 and VAURA, to expand into other fitness and wellness modalities while maintaining F45’s core principles. VAURA puts members in a high-intensity, athletic reformer Pilates environment, while FS8 features a 50-minute experience of yoga, Pilates and toning.

“We want to make sure we’re offering the different modalities to really cater to everybody’s needs,” Dowd said. “We’re very focused on toning, yoga and Pilates so that we offer something different to the marketplace.”

But still, Dowd feels there’s more to accomplish in terms of expanding F45’s arsenal of offerings — and by extension the brand’s community of members. He mentioned recovery as an aspect of the fitness and wellness experience that F45 will aim to get involved with this year. 

Simply educating the public about the benefits of  F45 functional training workouts remains a focal point as well. 

“A lot of people still don’t know what F45 is,” Dowd said. “So the biggest opportunity for us is to educate people about who we are.”

Dowd noted the rising popularity of strength training among fitness consumers, and says F45 plans to stake its claim to that share of the market with its unique take on functional training.

“How do we tap into that community of people who are looking for strength-based training?” Dowd said. “How do we get them into the high intensity (workout) that’s very scientifically based? How do we get them into the low intensity like Pilates? More importantly, how do we get them to do all of them with us?”

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The holiday season is upon us, and F45 Training is encouraging fitness enthusiasts to stick to their health goals. The functional fitness franchise is inviting everyone to drop into its studios for a special strength and endurance challenge running from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3.

Dubbed “Trials Week,” participants are encouraged to put their skills to the test across seven stages of F45 workouts spanning cardio, strength training and a hybrid combination. Participants can compete to make it to the top of the leaderboard of their local studio and globally by logging in their results into the F45 Training app.

“Ring in the holiday season with F45 and train your heart out to finish the year off strong ahead of the New Year,” said Tom Dowd, CEO of F45 Training. “Trials Week is just as perfect for the competitive looking to push themselves to their true limits as it is for those starting their fitness journey – helping everyone achieve the most rewarding feeling of fit.”

F45, known for its functional fitness workouts and high-intensity interval training, has been rewriting the script as of late, highlighting the power of its brand with a new content series, ‘Why I F45.’ The series highlights F45 members, coaches and franchise owners as they share the personal reasons they are committed to the Mark Wahlberg-backed fitness concept. 

F45’s New Chapter

Dowd, who was appointed as F45’s CEO earlier this year, has been put in a similar position as Peloton CEO Barry McCarthy — placed at the helm of a ship that is navigating rough waters while dealing with a few leaks from the previous captain. 

Choppy waters indeed — F45 has had to confront a $372 million loss over the last two years and wrangle a lawsuit brought forth by David Beckham and pro golfer Greg Norman as it recently delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.

Still, Dowd, with 25 years of executive leadership experience at GNC Holdings and as co-founder of Performance Inspired, believes he can return F45 to its glory days. 

After replacing former F45 CEO Adam Gilchrist, Dowd led F45 to enter a deal with human performance company Whoop and indicated that the brand plans to rely more on actor-investor Wahlberg to drive home the fitness franchise’s power — a decision he says will ultimately help franchise owners.

Under Dowd, F45 has also released a new workout series created by Wahlberg, searched for talent for its F45 Athlete Squad, revamped its website and digital presence to make booking an F45 class easier, began exploring branded merch and welcomed a marketing firm to prepare for its expansion plans. 

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Xponential Fitness, a leading boutique fitness franchisor with a portfolio of ten brands, is letting fitness enthusiasts cash in on healthy habits by playing games for a chance to win exciting prizes — provided they walked 5,000 steps or attended an in-studio Xponential Fitness class.

The new Daily Games challenge is the latest feature on the XPass app, with rewards including an electric Porsche Taycan, vacations and custom merchandise from Xponential partners.

“Fitness is all about finding joy in the journey, and our in-app game does just that by turning every walk and every studio session into an epic quest for rewards,” said Danyal Ali, chief marketing technology officer at Xponential Fitness. “This isn’t your typical workout routine – it’s a revolution in how we approach staying active, blending technology and entertainment in a way that’s both engaging and effective.”

To kick off the launch of the new gaming feature, XPass is offering users a weekly opportunity to win $1,000 starting October 16 until the New Year.

The first of the XPass Daily Games features a “unique, skill-based” version of rock, paper, scissors that goes live every night at 11pm ET. Xponential is planning to introduce new games to the app in the future. To participate in that day’s game, app users must either walk 5,000 steps or attend an in-studio Xponential class.

“The XPass Daily Game is a game of memory, speed and accuracy,” Ali explained to Athletech News. “At its most basic level, it is a digital game of rock, paper, scissors that is judged on the player’s quickness to select the winning symbol accurately. Only the fastest players who successfully complete a round will move on to the next. Between each round, the set of rules defining what symbol wins and/or the image representing a symbol may change, which adds an element of memory.”

In an adjacent category, Xponential is introducing a mixed-reality and VR app on the new Meta Quest 3, where Quest players can be fully immersed in a photo-realistic representation of an actual Xponential-branded studio. Users can also cast an instructor into their space via Quest 3’s new pass-through capabilities for a real-life experience.

The fitness franchisor also recently welcomed social media maven Gary Vaynerchuk to supercharge its marketing and content efforts across all of its ten brands.

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Virtuix is preparing to launch Omni One, a complete entertainment system that intends to take gamified and immersive experiences to the next level by allowing users to walk and run in 360 degrees within video games and virtual worlds using a treadmill and accompanying VR headset.

The company just closed a successful equity crowdfunding effort, which “far exceeded” its $5 million goal, Virtuix founder and CEO Jan Goetgeluk told Athletech News. Virtuix’s total Series B funding is now at over $11 million committed, Goetgeluk confirms.

“We’re thrilled about the success of our investment campaign and our community’s excitement about Omni One,” Goetgeluk said. “Omni One is a groundbreaking product that sets us up for rapid revenue growth.”

Goetgeluk adds that Virtuix has a waitlist of 35,000 interested consumers, and shipping 3,000 units a month would bring in $100 million in annual revenues. 

“We’re ready to scale,” he said.

Virtuix plans to use the funding to ramp up production of its Omni One and reach profitability in 2024. JC Team Capital, a prior investor, is a lead investor in the recent round, and its founder and CEO, Parth Jani, will join Virtuix’s board of directors.

While Virtuix’s current Omni product line consists of Omni Pro, a commercial version of Omni One, and Omni Arena, a multiplayer attraction consisting of four Omni Pro units. The new Omni One is lighter and more compact, making it an ideal addition for at-home fitness and entertainment. It’s also simple to fold and move, allowing players to move freely. The Omni One has an intro price of $2,595,  including both the treadmill and a Pico VR headset. 

The company has started shipping beta units of Omni One to its 8,000 equity investors and plans to deploy over 1,000 units by the end of the year, with the remaining investor units delivering in Q1 2024.

Pre-orders will be available to the general public later this year, with delivery beginning in Q2 2024.

The post Virtuix Raises Over $5M for Gamified VR Treadmill appeared first on Athletech News.

Rolla, a gamified fitness startup based in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has closed a €6.3 million ($6.9 million) seed funding round, the company announced.

The round, led by Mate Rimac, CEO of Rimac Group, and Hellen’s Rock Capital, set a new record for a health and fitness startup in Central and Eastern Europe.

Rolla says the funding will be used to expand, grow its customer base and establish key development and commercial hubs while continuing its mission to help consumers “level up” their health and fitness.

The startup currently covers health and activities with two products: Rolla One, an app that allows fitness enthusiasts to track walking, running or cycling activities as it calculates metrics, and Rolla World, which allows for an immersive, virtual fitness experience for cyclists and runners. Players can compete in a multi-player setting and create their own avatars. 

Health monitoring and diet and weight management are listed as “coming soon” on Rolla’s website. While Rolla is currently in beta, its fitness platform is expected to launch in Q1 of 2024, according to Tech.EU. 

The startup confirms that in the coming weeks, Rolla will reveal its hiring plans. 

In June, the startup featured Rolla One and Rolla World at Eurobike with the goal of attracting beta testers and finding potential partners. Before the Eurobike event, Rolla teamed with Technogym, who provided positive feedback. 

Rolla’s founder, Igor Krezic, said the plan was to meet with leaders such as Garmin, Wahoo and Elite, but Rolla didn’t expect the impact of content creators covering the startup during the exhibition, which catapulted the startup. 

“With our mission defined and support from partners and investors, the real challenge lies ahead,” Krezic wrote in a company blog post. “We now have to live up to the expectations.”

Gamified fitness proponents cheer its ability to engage even the most reluctant while providing motivation and engagement. It can also lead consumers to stick to a routine fitness plan, especially if games include “rewards.”

The post Rolla Gets $7M in Seed Funding for Gamification Platform appeared first on Athletech News.

Sam Cole didn’t have to think about exercise very much when he was growing up playing sports in New Zealand. For him, being active was a byproduct of getting into the flow of competitive team athletics.

It wasn’t until after he stopped playing rugby post-university that the FitXR founder and CEO had to find other ways of keeping fit. He found that boutique group fitness classes offered a great way to get into what he calls a “flow-like state,” in which the experience is so immersive that he forgets he’s working out.

He began to think about the different elements of high-quality group fitness – a great instructor, engaging environment, motivating music and the opportunity to synchronously work out with other people – and how it could be delivered in a new way to more people.

“When we launched FitXR in 2016, many in the industry were talking about immersive fitness, but not in connection with VR headsets, which were still associated with video gamers. I thought a lot about how to combine a great soundtrack, great lighting effects, a great instructor and great environment. What’s the next thing we could do? We could bring in the visual layer. I kind of merged these two thoughts in my head and was pretty sure you could deliver an amazing experience helping people to get into a flow-like state around exercise via a virtual reality headset.”

Cole and his partners carried the core belief that immersive fitness would get people into a flow-like state into its first product, a boxing app, and soon added four additional modalities: high intensity interval training; dance; combat; and sculpt.
FitXR’s aim is to deliver a holistic and varied fitness experience similar to that of a club with different studios and modalities that target different muscle groups and give different fitness experiences, keeping people engaged and coming back for more. Cole is particularly excited about the variety part.

“In the FitXR boxing experience, for example, you are transported into a virtual environment that has been purposefully designed to deliver its proprietary boxing content, with cues flying towards you on the beat of the music representing different punch moves. The dance studio, by contrast, is a different environment that’s been purpose-built to deliver its dance content. At that studio, you are modeling an instructor who is completing the moves in front of you. And then through body recognition, it’s able to infer how you’re doing those moves against what the instructor is doing, and you are scored accordingly.”

Going With the Flow

Cole identified the four key elements of the FitXR workout that make it so engaging and send customers into a flow-like state. The first is the sense of being transported to another place.

“Our customers report that they put the headset on and are transported to a separate location. This satisfies a lot of customers’ needs around the separation between home and gym. Especially during COVID, many of our customers said that was a really big factor for them.”

The second is the feeling of community. All of the FitXR modalities have asynchronous avatars, which means when you take a class, you look to your left and right and see people who have done that class in Avatar form before you at earlier times. The instructor avatars speak to you and interact with you as an individual, giving a hybrid experience of group fitness and personal training. You have the feeling of doing this together with other people, while getting almost one-on-one coaching, all while being transported to another place.

The visual and gamification elements, in Cole’s opinion, contribute most to the immersive experience. The FitXR boxing classes, choreographed by a team of instructors from places like Rumble, Equinox and Barry’s Bootcamp in New York are, he says,

“Like taking a class in a Manhattan boxing studio, except that cues are flying towards you on the beat of the music in a virtual environment, so it’s even better than standing in a studio and punching a bag. Many of our customers will tell us they get lost in the experience when they put the headset on. They stop looking at the clock and 30 minutes later are drenched in sweat and feeling fantastic, a feeling they never got doing exercise before.”

From Gamers to Grandmas

FitXR has successfully shifted its customer base from predominantly 18-year-old male gamers to an audience that is now 35-plus and skews female. It serves a broad range of ages and fitness abilities, from the 13-year-old kid who hates exercise to the 65-year-old who has been exercising her whole life but uses FitXR as the most fun part of her existing routine.

This demographic shift has helped the headset companies expand their customer base as well. FitXR invests a lot of time and effort into its relationships with the hardware suppliers. “If you were in London in early April, you would see FitXR billboards and bus shelters that Meta are paying for, because it’s mutually beneficial for them to drive awareness of FitXR and to promote fitness in general as a use case for the underlying hardware.”

Gaming still represents somewhat of a gateway drug for VR fitness, however, and Cole attributes some of FitXR’s success to newer video games that get people moving.

“You’ve gone from gaming on your PlayStation using your thumbs to the most popular game in virtual reality today, which is Beat Saber. Think of Guitar Hero with lightsabers. It’s great. And what many people do is they’ll buy a headset to play Beat Saber, and they’ll be slicing away at these musical cues and having a great time and suddenly realizing that they’re getting a little bit of a workout. And then this sparks the thought in people’s heads about using a headset for fitness, to get a workout. Then they wonder what specific fitness product they could engage with and check out FitXR.”

Cole thinks people’s impressions of what a gamer is have already started to change.

“I think as more and more gamers use virtual reality to game using their entire body, whether it’s lightsabers or running around virtual spaces, I wonder whether you get to this world where e-sport athletes in the future will more closely resemble athletes of today, because they’ll have to be so fit and strong to be able to perform at the highest level in these active virtual reality games. So I think there could be a very interesting crossover point.”

Is This the Answer for the 80%?

Cole feels that many FitXR customers were previously conditioned to think that, because it’s always been something that they’ve struggled to engage with, exercise isn’t for them.

“For those customers, I think this is where we really start to see the impact of the power of immersive fitness. Because you can present fitness in a way that feels easier, that feels more engaging, that has all of the same efficacy as traditional fitness. Many of our customers tell us they never found exercise engaging until they tried FitXR and were able to transport themselves into a virtual world in which the experience feels so fun and engaging that they start to realize that they can exercise. For a lot of people, it’s just about finding the right movement for you at whatever point in your journey that you’re on.”

At around $10 a month, FitXR, like others in the VR workout space, is extremely affordable. People who don’t already own a Meta Quest II or similar headset, however, need to make the additional hardware investment. Considering the cost to buy high-quality exercise equipment plus a subscription, or the monthly cost to belong to a boutique fitness studio, it’s still a good value.

“We’ve tried to not just serve the 20% who exercise regularly, but also serve the 80%,” Cole said. “We’re ready to serve everyone. With a mission to broaden the amount of people who are exercising, we want it to be priced accordingly.”

The Future

Technology is continuously evolving, and FitXR, whose name contains the acronym for “Extended Reality,” is keeping pace. Said Cole: “We are seeing technology moving from pure virtual reality, or VR, where you’re entirely immersed in a virtual world, to a thing called mixed reality, or MR, where you can start to bring in elements of your surroundings.”

He explained that with mixed reality, you could have a headset on but also see, if you wanted to, some or all of the things in the actual room you are in. This combination of VR and AR enables an experience in which you take your real surroundings and add a visual layer to it that transports you to a different place which, according to Cole, opens up many possibilities from a modality perspective.

“With these mixed reality headsets, you can suddenly bring in the bike, you can see your actual feet, you can see the resistance toggle, you can see the handlebars, and then on the top half, instead of looking down at a screen, everything above the handlebars can be wrapped in a completely virtual environment. So we’re really excited about what this enables us to do. It’s not just bikes we could integrate with, it’s kettlebells, dumbbells, elliptical machines, Pilates reformers, TRX machines, anything.”

He said that his company has no intention of getting into the equipment business, so is having conversations with many different potential hardware partners.

“There are many amazing companies out there for whom we can come along and build virtual reality content that could take this to the next level or just provide additional value for their existing customer base.”

Many Fitness Players Entering the Space

Connected VR Fitness platform Holofit, by Swiss Company Holodia, is another popular VR fitness platform that connects a headset with compatible hardware made by Technogym, WaterRower, StairMaster and others.

Litesport, formerly known as Liteboxer, just added a VR-enable strength training app to its portfolio. The Les Mills BodyCombat VR has a huge following. Win Reality’s VR app that helps improve baseball and softball skills is extremely popular among younger customers. And the roster keeps growing. Many large gym chains are adding virtual workouts using VR headsets to their hybrid workout offerings.

Earlier this year Meta acquired Within, whose VR fitness product Supernatural differs from FitXR in a few key ways, according to Cole.

“Supernatural has real-life instructors represented by video format and a slightly different and narrower range of classes than FitXR. They have one core experience, which is their slicing mode, and then they have a boxing module, which they added on top of that. So we feel like Supernatural is our closest competitor in this space, but we’re going in pretty different directions.”

And then there’s Apple. The Cupertino, California-based behemoth recently announced it will begin selling a mixed reality headset early next year for a cool $3500. Many believe the headset debut will accompany enhanced offerings from

Apple Fitness+ and strengthen the Apple Fitness ecosystem.

As with most new technologies, however, the more options people have, and the more innovation happening, the more people will begin to participate in XR Fitness, offering growth opportunities for the entire industry.

Cole and his team like to say that their competition isn’t other fitness brands, it’s the couch.

“It’s a really hard challenge. But it’s also a really great mission. People in our company, many of whom come from video game backgrounds, get really engaged with this, and they love coming to work, knowing that we’re trying to make the world a better place by giving people more access to fitness and trying to get more people to have a habit around fitness.”

The post The Future of Fitness? FitXR’s Mission To Get People Off the Couch appeared first on Athletech News.

EGYM, a leading global fitness technology company, develops forward-thinking fitness equipment for club operators and their members. As a strong advocate of embracing technology for the long-term success of club operators and the fitness industry, EGYM believes gamification is one of the keys to increasing long-term operator success while improving member experience.   

A Munich-based company with its North American headquarters in Denver, Colorado, EGYM has experienced rapid growth, reporting year-over-year growth of over 200% in North America in 2022, with plans to more than double again this year. Earlier this month, EGYM raised $225 million in a funding round led by Affinity Partners as it eyes an eventual IPO.

The release of Gameday, an innovative and interactive workout that attracts new club members and motivates experienced fitness enthusiasts, is a performance-based experience that spices up a regular workout routine in the gym. A fun and free Gameday competition allows clubs to highlight the myriad of benefits of EGYM’s equipment and the club’s offerings.  The resulting experience is designed to drive an increase in membership upgrades, create additional revenue and improve overall operational impact and efficiency for clubs.

Using a gamified approach, Gameday prompts members to try something new, breaking them out of the rut of a regular training routine while motivating and inspiring them through strength and fitness tests. No prior onboarding is needed, so interested users can just start Gameday and jump right into the interactive experience.

Members can compete against others or themselves and benefit from analysis and measurable results. The Gameday experience, using AI, offers deep insight for users, including detecting muscle imbalances, understanding ideal training weights and designing workout programs on EGYM’s Smart Strength equipment. 

After a member completes a Gameday workout, they will review their results on a leaderboard. They can also determine if they are satisfied with their performance or motivated to push further as they compete again. They will then be invited to onboard at the EGYM Fitness Hub, where the member can activate a complimentary trial to continue experiencing EGYM’s equipment. At the end of the trial, members can upgrade their membership to continue using all that the club has to offer through the EGYM Ecosystem of products.

Dana Milkie, EGYM North America General Manager, says EGYM’s latest innovation exemplifies the benefits gamification can bring to the fitness industry.

“Gameday is a great example of how gamification can make a huge difference for health club operators and members,” Milkie said, adding that the experience will instantly change members’ workout routine, keeping them engaged and motivated through gamification. 

Milkie also highlights the importance of hyper-personalization and leveraging AI.

“By personalizing exercise to the individual, and leveraging technology to gamify the workout, clubs can differentiate the member experience creating real brand loyalty,” he said. “Additionally, since gamification is being delivered primarily via software technology, the ability to leverage AI to continuously evolve messaging, presentation and impact is significant.”

To get a demo of all of EGYM’s industry-leading innovations and better understand what is required to launch Gameday, contact EGYM today.

The post EGYM Takes Interactive Fitness to New Heights With Gameday appeared first on Athletech News.

While many fitness enthusiasts enjoy breaking a sweat, making a workout both competitive and fun while harnessing the latest in technology can attract those who don’t, offering major benefits for fitness companies.

Major players are emerging in the fitness gamification space, luring in reluctant exercisers with competitive activities, dopamine spikes and socialization opportunities. 

Athletech News spoke with some of the leading companies that are redefining what gamification means for the future of the fitness industry.

Orangetheory, the Masters of Gamification

Orangetheory Fitness, which added 200 new studios during the pandemic years, is gearing up for rapid growth, believing that demand is exceptionally high for its boutique fitness concept. 

The fitness company has mastered gamification with its heart rate, performance tracking and in-studio monitors that directly connect to Orangetheory’s wearable. 

Orangetheory’s gamification approach has gotten fitness consumers interested in real-time data, which has become a bedrock of the brand. The boutique fitness company boasts a “Challenge Tracker” to track past and current performances for fitness milestones, such as a one-mile treadmill time or a member’s best 2000-meter rowing distance. Members who are motivated by competition can see where they land on the leaderboard, working to increase speed or stretch over time.

“Gamification in the fitness space has always been — and I think will remain — an impactful way to motivate people to attain their goals,” said Rachel Vaziralli, Orangetheory’s director of fitness design. “Gamification has been shown time and time again to push people to find their max potential because competition, whether with yourself or others, drives people to work harder and can also help you adhere to a workout program that you might otherwise quit.”

Vaziralli notes that fitness gamification can come in various forms, using both digital and non-digital platforms. 

“At Orangetheory, we like to do both, and we look at gamification in multiple ways, like workout events, thematic classes, and through our tech,” she added.

She points to Orangetheory members participating in a personal achievement journey where they can track progress over time or join a 30-day challenge where they commit to workouts, hydration and mental health, using a tracking card to help stay in the game.

Orangetheory also incorporates gamification in its events, offering a chance to hit new goals and test limits, such as a week-long event in October called Hell Week and another in May called Mayhem.

The boutique fitness company also integrates socialization and teamwork with gamified workouts such as Capture the Flag, where two Orangetheory members partner. The friendly and fun competition engages the entire class, measuring them against other Orangetheory classes worldwide and sharing results on social media. 

As Orangetheory looks to the future, it sees an opportunity to continue to blend its gamification expertise with strength training, which is becoming highly popular among fitness consumers. 

“As people continue to learn the importance of incorporating strength training into their workouts, the need to find ways to engage exercisers with gamification in that space will continue to rise,” said Vaziralli.

EGYM Invests in Competition Tech

EGYM is all in on gamification and AI, believing that the fitness industry needs to lean into advancing tech. 

The company, creating products for club operators and members, has experienced rapid growth. In 2022, EGYM reported year-over-year growth of over 200% in North America, with plans to more than double again this year. Earlier this month, the Munich-based company raised $225 million in a funding round led by Affinity Partners as it eyes an eventual IPO.

“As a reflection of the importance and impact of gamification in everyday life, at EGYM we believe the application of gamification will continue to increase and accelerate in the fitness industry,” said Dana Milkie, General Manager, EGYM North America. “Gamification will play a pivotal role in helping operators provide a more engaging, motivating and hyper-personalized experience for their members.”

Milkie points to EGYM’s latest innovation, Gameday, as an example of how gamification can make a huge difference for health club operators and members. 

“Designed to create competition within and between members, Gameday leverages a ‘total weight moved’ leaderboard to enhance members’ workouts and allow for a unique experience for prospects,” said Milkie. “The results will instantly change your members’ workout routine and keep them engaged and motivated through gamification.”

Zwift Brings a New Dimension to Cycling 

Valued at north of $1 billion, Zwift, an immersive multiplayer online cycling and running platform, is aiming to become the premiere leader in the interactive cycling space. Co-founder and co-CEO Eric Min believes there are millions of future Zwift-ers who are just sitting on the sidelines at the moment.

The virtually connected fitness company is excited about the gamification space and hopes to add other activities to its platform.

“The nice thing about gaming fitness is the limitless potential,” said Zwift’s Chris Snook, director, PR & external communications. “When we launched Zwift in 2014, our mission was to make more people more active, more often. We believed that by gamifying our cycling experience, we would help make indoor training more fun.”

Snook added that Zwift and gamification, in general, represent a new opportunity to make people healthier while providing a more accessible way to exercise. 

“Society in general is becoming more sedentary,” he said. “We believe that a platform like Zwift has the potential to help combat this by using technology to make fitness and exercise more fun, more social, and more convenient. The convenience of exercising from home removes barriers and also unlocks opportunities by presenting equal opportunities.”

Rewarding fitness enthusiasts is another angle that Zwift has mastered. 

“We add many gamified elements in the Zwift that look to reward users for their efforts,” said Snook. Since Zwift doesn’t support in-app purchases, users can instead accrue Zwift’s virtual currency, Drops, which can result in receiving tangible goodies for Zwift players.

“Like XP points, Drops are awarded the more you ride or run and we offer bonus multipliers by riding for extended durations with our pacer groups or when riding up hills,” explained Snook. “These Drops can then be exchanged in the Drop Shop for new bikes, wheels and helmets.”

Looking ahead, Snook confirmed Zwift is also looking at virtual reality, especially with the opportunities presented by Web 3.0. 

Quell Puts the ‘Game’ in Gamification

Quell, a gamified fitness developer, recently completed a Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $15.6 million, which will fuel its launch game, Shardfall, and expand its video game library. 

The gamified platform speaks to those who want an immersive experience that is unpredictable, slaying creatures and protecting an enchanted forest without realizing they are working up a sweat. 

Cameron Brookhouse, co-founder and CEO of Quell, observes that gamification in some form or another has been a trend for roughly 30 years, with gaming features such as socialization and leaderboards constituting the components that make gaming appealing. 

“To me, the future of gamification and fitness and wellness is transitioning from those kinds of light-touch integrations into full gamification where the game is the centerpiece,” said Brookhouse.

But it’s more than that, according to Brookhouse. It’s also recognizing and building upon human behaviors. In its journey to positioning its brand with a gaming-first approach, Quell conducted significant research into people’s fitness behaviors and perceptions. It also took an honest look at mainstream fitness activities. 

“I think the core issue with fitness is what we call ‘default exercise’ – so things like running, cycling, the gym, which are really easy to access — are typically also really unpleasant for most people, either monotonous or boring or a bit painful,” explained Brookhouse. He cited some statistics that he finds amusing, including a Strava survey that revealed half of runners either hate or barely tolerate running.

“I think it’s amazing,” he said with a laugh. “What product has 50% of people hating using it, but they still use it? And then like 67% of U.S. gym memberships are completely dormant, right? So there’s kind of this broken thing in the space.” 

That “broken thing” in the industry is what Quell believes can be easily fixed with the help of fitness gamification.

Brookhouse went on to say that when examining what makes exercise compelling, there’s a substantial overlap with what makes gaming enticing, which he says isn’t entirely surprising given that the most enjoyable fitness activities are effectively games.

“Team sports and things like that have really, really high enjoyment scores, but they’re also really hard to access,” he said. “But if you dig into these sorts of components of enjoyment, which I think is the future of gamification, it kind of sits along these pillars, like instantaneous and ideally variable rewards.”

While the fitness gaming space has elements such as leaderboards and rewards, Brookhouse believes competitors are missing one important aspect: immersion. 

“We use that in a really specific way at Quell,” he said. “When we say immersion, we mean that every exercise and action that you’re doing is in the functional service of some obvious game goal. So nothing is abstracted, nothing is repetition, nothing is a plan — everything is responsive and everything makes sense functionally.”

Brookhouse thinks companies in the gamification business are missing the bigger picture.

“There’s a bunch of VR players in this space and some console players as well that are making kind of a classic design mistake,” he said. “They’re thinking, ‘OK, we’re making a fitness game, let’s make a game about fitness, let’s centralize fitness’ and what that ultimately does is just recreate the gym, recreate those low enjoyment, default exercises in your home. In this immersive setting, you basically simulated a gym with a sort of wrapper around it and some polish.”

In contrast, Quell makes the game the mission instead of the distraction, striving to recreate the fun of high-enjoyment exercises.

“I think that’s the future of this,” said Brookhouse.

He also shed light on Quell’s launch game: “It’s this beautiful sort of adventure RPG where you’re running and jumping and fighting your way through this incredible fantasy world. But the game and the AI are the things that are your personal trainer and it’s completely immersive.”

The game never demands that players do X number of jumps; instead, players are jumping because they are about to be attacked or running because the walls are closing in around them or they have to move quickly before getting hit with spikes. Brookhouse said that a system of unpredictability and intention makes Quell enjoyable. 

Looking ahead, Quell is in the middle of its big launch year, debuting its wearable fitness gaming console and RPG game.

“It’s going to be kind of mind-blowing to see what the response to this is like,” said Brookhouse. “I don’t think anything like this exists out there yet. We’ve done a ton of new stuff on the hardware side, some really cutting-edge things with super lightweight motion tracking without any VR headsets or cameras or anything to impact the UX.”

The post The Gamification of Fitness: From Leaderboards to Enchanted Forests appeared first on Athletech News.

VR fitness has found fans in fitness enthusiasts as well as those who are perhaps exercise-reluctant, and now a new benefit to virtual fitness has emerged regarding post-op recovery.

A new study demonstrates that immersive virtual reality fitness games can aid recovery after colorectal surgery, according to a randomized, single-blind, controlled pilot trial.

While most experts agree that early mobilization post-surgery is imperative for reducing complications and restoring a patient’s ability, the study shows that VR fitness games can be a low-cost modality to promote recovery.

According to the study’s findings, VR fitness games can also positively impact the mood and well-being of post-op patients after conducting an experiment with 62 patients undergoing curative surgery for colorectal cancer. Some patients were placed in a VR fitness group and others were placed in a control group. 

The patients placed in the VR fitness group received daily VR fitness games in addition to routine post-op care and demonstrated an overall mood improvement. The median hospital stay for patients in the VR fitness group was also shorter than patients in the control group, with seven days compared to nine. However, the study says the two-day difference didn’t reach statistical significance. 

Still, researchers are encouraged by the findings of VR intervention in a post-op setting and believe it would be worth further researching VR as an adjunct to physiotherapy when promoting post-surgery mobilization.

VR’s Surging Popularity

VR fitness has emerged as a fun way to get (and stay) active, as seen by the rise of platforms such as WIN Reality, a virtual reality baseball and softball training platform where athletes and fitness enthusiasts can listen to hit music while immersed in a virtual ballpark. 

Quell, which raised $10 million this year in a Series A, has also created an exciting and gamified approach to fitness with its adventurous games. 

As VR provides an engaging way to get people healthy both physically and mentally, three companies could be at the forefront of merging VR with healthcare. 

Apple

Apple recently introduced its mixed-reality headset, the Vision Pro, which will likely continue to advance its health and wellness endeavors. 

The Vision Pro allows users to view digital content overlaid on their environment while providing the ability to interact with content using eye movement, hand gestures and voice commands. As Apple continues to invest in its fitness and wellness offerings on Fitness+ and Apple Watch, the tech giant is widely expected to do the same with its new headset. 

Apple has also made it a point to underscore its commitment to health data privacy, enhancing the likelihood it will push into the health and wellness sector. 

Meta & Supernatural 

VR fitness app Supernatural, which Meta acquired after a drama-filled battle with the FTC, has a bevy of fans, including those who found a love of activity with its immersive games and those who are either preparing for (or recovering from) surgery.

In an official Supernatural community on Facebook, members of the VR app have shared personal experiences, offering advice and encouragement.

One Supernatural member had rotator cuff surgery and was urged by her PT to continue using the VR platform and keep moving as she recovers. Other members who have had lower-body surgeries, such as knee or hip replacements, have successfully used the VR fitness program while sitting in a chair, finding a way to stay active as they recover from their surgeries.

In one moving post that revealed the power of VR on mood, a Supernatural member shared he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and started the VR program, initially attracted by the immersive landscapes that would replace going outdoors. While he revealed his prognosis is terminal, he wrote that the joy of movement and exercising has been a positive light in an otherwise dark situation. 

Editor’s note: Meta has its own exciting plans for VR fitness beyond Supernatural. Download Athletech’s Technology & Innovation Outlook report to learn more.

Asensei XR

Asensei, a movement recognition and coaching intelligence provider, recently launched an extension that offers extended reality capabilities, which has the potential to revolutionize the VR and AR landscape for fitness and health developers. 

The extension enables users to use their body as a controller, allowing them to engage in “exergames” that respond to real-time movements while tracking the actions in the virtual environment. Visual feedback is also provided to ensure form and technique. 

Such advancements can be used in the health space, allowing patients to recover while adding guided movement. 

VR in Healthcare & Beyond

In addition to emerging VR headsets and platforms, VR is being used as a tool for surgeons at George Washington University, allowing them to explore the brain of a patient before performing surgery. One study found that VR training improves surgical performance by 230%. 

Cedars-Sinai Hospital has also discovered that VR can reduce pain by 24% and can help women in labor and those suffering from chronic pain. Younger patients, such as sick children, can also benefit from VR games, lessening pain and anxiety. 

As tech, health and fitness continue to mingle, VR fitness and gaming initiatives are primed to become commonplace in healthcare and beyond. 

The post Is VR Fitness the Next Big Thing in Healthcare? appeared first on Athletech News.

While Peloton has signaled its intentions to place less emphasis on its famous hardware, pivoting to its app and relying on content, the connected fitness company isn’t neglecting the growing gamified fitness space.

Peloton announced the launch of Lanebreak Tread, a gaming-inspired experience that is available to all-access members using one of Peloton’s Tread treadmills. Lanebreak is currently only available for the Tread, not the Tread+, which was recently approved for a long-awaited rear guard repair by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The connected fitness company first introduced Lanebreak Bike last year.

Members can select from five Lanebreak Tread levels. To get the maximum score possible on the new Lanebreak Tread, Peloton members must match and maintain their incline or speed based on animated prompts. The experience combines the hardware capabilities of Tread with an auto-incline feature during “Hill Moments.” As Tread users approach a hill, the equipment automatically adjusts its elevation to follow the curve displayed in the 3D world on the tablet.

As Peloton co-founder and chief product officer Tom Cortese notes, the Peloton experience has been infused with gamification principles since the brand’s inception, with leaderboards, achievements and streaks.

Lanebreak, however, is designed to offer a new workout experience for fitness consumers with its energy-enhancing playlists and impressive game mechanics.

“Lanebreak classes are fun, immersive and drive you to hit workout cues in a unique way,” Cortese said. “Lanebreak Tread has been informed by member feedback and we’ve injected the excitement and competitive elements of gaming to create a fitness experience that is tailored to the Peloton Tread. As with all we do at Peloton, we’ll continue to iterate by adding new levels and music genres.”

As music is always a key component to Peloton experiences, each Lanebreak level is set to a unique playlist of top tracks. To celebrate the launch of Lanebreak Tread, Peloton is releasing a 30-minute level featuring the music of Tiësto, including tracks from his new album Drive.

“Super excited to partner with Peloton on this new Tread experience! Music has a unique ability to motivate and bring out energy when we need it most,” Tiësto said. “Being active and working out is something I love to do, and the high energy in my music is the perfect fit.”

The decision to introduce Lanebreak to Tread jives with user data that Peloton recently shared.

During early talks of its eventual rebrand, the connected fitness company revealed that its members and preferred experiences have evolved, with 57% of all workouts logged not related to cycling. Instead, Peloton said 62% of its active members have engaged in strength training, yoga, meditation and other fitness activities.

The brand’s latest marketing campaign targeted slightly younger fitness consumers — perhaps those who may be more intrigued by the benefits and experience of fitness gamification.

The post Peloton Brings Gamification to Treadmill With Lanebreak Tread appeared first on Athletech News.

With new dedicated game controllers and a beta gaming experience that showcases its latest features, Zwift is pushing further into fitness gamification.

The immersive multiplayer online cycling and running platform, now valued at over $1 billion, has been on a mission to expand its subscriber base, intent on becoming the leader in the interactive cycling arena.

The launch of Zwift Play gets the virtual cycling platform that much closer to its goal, allowing riders to control their game directly from behind the handlebars, eliminating the need to reach for the screen.

Before the release of Zwift Play, players would control the experience through the Zwift Companion app, but the online fitness program noticed there could be room for improvement for its riders. While the app remains an integral part of the Zwift experience and ecosystem, allowing users to join clubs, events and message each other, Zwift Play offers an enhanced experience that keeps riders’ sweaty hands on their handlebars and off their devices. Zwifters who opt not to purchase the controllers will still find the same functionality they’re used to in the app.

The solution? placing the tools needed for the best gaming interaction right in the hands of Zwift players.

Silicone straps secure the Zwift Play controllers to the drop handlebars. The left controller has a directional pad, allowing for seamless game menu navigation. The directional pad gives Zwift riders the chance to select turns or U-turns while exploring the virtual worlds.

The right game controller has shortcut buttons laid out in a familiar way, so riders can keep their eyes on their virtual cycling journey while easily making menu selections. When riding, the buttons act as shortcuts to give Ride Ons, deploy PowerUps, skip workout blocks and the ability to teleport to Pacer Groups.

The new controllers also have paddles for steering and braking with just a simple motion. Players can shift the paddle inwards to brake and pull out to steer.

Zwift Play launches alongside a new beta Zwift Play Game experience, the first game of which is a refreshed Repack Rush, a beta game highlighting some of the new game control functions.

Zwift confirms that its riders can expect to see new game experiences rolling out and tested in the coming months.

Eric Min, Zwift’s co-CEO and co-founder, has stated in the past that the company is considering going public at some point, sharing with Bloomberg earlier this year that he believes a sizable consumer base has yet to be reached.

“We have a long way to go until we’ve saturated the market and the cycling industry,” Min told the publication.

The online cycling platform launched its Zwift Hub, a smart trainer, in the fall of 2022, which provides a high-quality indoor riding experience. The hub was designed to give cyclists a lower-cost and easy-to-use piece of hardware that would open the doors to a premium experience in Zwift.

While Peloton may be viewed as a competitor, Zwift cyclists see a difference between the two fitness segments — one catered to the fitness-focused rider who enjoys a studio feel versus Zwifters, avid cyclists who prefer being immersed in a gamified and competitive world.

During the beta testing phase, Zwift Play is available for a limited time at a discounted price of $99/£99/€99. Zwift says the planned MSRP is $149/£149/€149.

The post Zwift Takes Gamification to Next Level With Cycling Controllers appeared first on Athletech News.

Asensei, a leading provider of movement recognition and coaching intelligence, has unveiled an exciting extension to its Asensei.ai software development kit (SDK) called Asensei XR. The new addition brings a range of extended reality (XR) capabilities to the SDK, revolutionizing the virtual and augmented reality landscape for fitness and health developers.

One of the major advancements offered by Asensei XR is integration with popular game development engines, Unity and Unreal Engine. The integration opens up new possibilities for developers, enabling them to create immersive and interactive experiences using Asensei’s cutting-edge technology.

With support for iOS, Android, Web, as well as cross-platform development platforms like Ionic, React and Flutter, the Asensei SDK ensures compatibility across a wide range of devices.

Positional tracking is another standout feature of Asensei XR. By utilizing the body as a controller, users can engage in “Exergames” that respond to their movements in real-time. Whether it’s moving left, right, forward, backward, jumping, crouching or performing specific sport or fitness techniques, the SDK accurately tracks and translates these actions into the virtual environment.

Real-time overlays are yet another exciting feature offered by Asensei XR. Users can now overlay real-time video capture on smart TVs and connected mirrors, enhancing their workout experience with animations and infographics that respond to their posture and movement. The visual feedback helps users maintain proper form and technique.

A (virtual) world of possibilities

Virtual fitness equipment is an innovative addition to Asensei XR, allowing equipment brands to transform CAD models into interactive digital equipment. Users can track punches, kicks and other movements accurately, with virtual equipment serving as targets or obstacles to overcome.

To further enhance the user experience, Asensei XR enables the integration of athlete and coach avatars. These on-screen avatars are rigged with motion-capture data from Asensei’s extensive exercise library, allowing them to demonstrate exercises and techniques with precision. Users can engage in natural language conversations with these avatars, thanks to Asensei Voice, which utilizes synthetic voice synthesis of real athletes, coaches and celebrities.

Collaborations with leading fitness brands

Top brands have recognized the potential of Asensei XR. Litesport, formally Liteboxer, creates some of the world’s most immersive workouts combining hit music, game dynamics, and expert training.

“We were approached to showcase Litesport on upcoming mixed-reality headsets that are not yet in the market”, says Jeff Morin, founder and CEO of Litesport. “However, we needed full body-tracking, exercise recognition and real-time feedback driven by form-tracking. The Asensei team worked quickly and effectively to deliver us a sample Unity app that made AI integration a breeze. This will be a game-changer for XR sport and fitness apps.”

PowerBlock, the first brand to create adjustable dumbbells nearly 30 years ago, is an industry pioneer. PowerBlock expandable dumbbells are trusted in elite training rooms and facilities, and now will be available digitally, including to customers in VR/AR.

“With Asensei fitness equipment detection, not only can Asensei XR recognize when someone is holding PowerBlock dumbbells, but identify exactly how much weight is loaded on them using advanced computer vision and machine learning.” says Mattson Towley, CEO of PowerBlock. “Incorporating Powerblock dumbbells into a mixed reality experience, virtual trainers will not only know how well you’re moving, but how much weight you’re moving.

Towley called the innovation an “astonishing leap forward in virtual strength training.”

As the demand for VR and AR experiences continues to rise, Asensei is at the forefront of empowering developers to create groundbreaking fitness and health applications. With Asensei XR, users can look forward to a future where VR and AR seamlessly integrate with their fitness routines, delivering personalized coaching and immersive experiences.

The post Asensei XR Could Be a Game-Changer for VR Fitness appeared first on Athletech News.

Feed.fm is excited to see the future of fitness, especially in the VR and gamification realm. 

The music licensing solution provider has partnered with WIN Reality, a virtual reality baseball and softball training platform, allowing athletes and fitness enthusiasts to listen to hit music while hitting it out of the virtual ballpark. 

The collaboration recognizes that music is an integral part of baseball culture, particularly for WIN Reality’s primary users: teenagers. However, users of all ages can choose their preferred genre in the app, with Feed.fm providing a streaming channel of well-known, pre-licensed music. 

“Music is such a part of the baseball experience – walk-up songs and music between innings, so there’s that immersive piece of it, but then the other piece is the actual impact of music on performance,” said Feed.fm co-founder and COO Lauren Pufpaf.

Incorporating music is more than just another entertainment angle – it’s a fitness strategy.

“There’s a physical, positive impact of people being able to actually push 15% harder when they’re listening to music they like, so it makes a lot of sense in those digital experiences,” Pufpaf tells Athletech News. 

In a preliminary test, Feed.fm reports the most popular genres are hip-hop and viral hits from TikTok and other social media platforms. Pop and country music, on the other hand, have taken a back seat for the time being.

The spike in interest in music from social media platforms is one that Feed.fm is seeing across a variety of its clients. The end-to-end music provider also offers an exclusive music rating system, which ensures that lyrical content and song contexts are appropriate for younger users.

The music licensing provider also uses algorithms so users can give real-time feedback on songs they like, dislike or opt to skip. Feed.fm’s music curators then review the results. 

Pufpaf shared that Feed.fm can fine-tune music preferences with its social teams, tapping into the sub-genres that fitness enthusiasts want to hear, whether it’s a subgenre of EDM or a different version of a country station. 

“Getting that kind of qualitative feedback is really helpful,” she said.

In addition to WIN Reality, the music licensing company recently collaborated with Ergatta, the maker of an interactive at-home rower, to enhance its gamified workouts with music, as well as VirZoom, a VR cycling platform.

Pufpaf sees VR continuing to expand into wellness and sports training.

“We’re seeing some really cool applications of VR starting to pop up, particularly in the idea of performance training,” Pufpaf said. “We are seeing a lot of movement towards the gamification of exercise as well. There’s a couple of interesting VR conversations in the works, but we haven’t closed those yet.”

The post Feed.fm Brings In-Game Music to VR Baseball & Softball appeared first on Athletech News.