Exercise bike/Gaming interface

This may seem like a bizarre request but I had a thought earlier. Is there anything out there that would allow me to hook up some sort of excercise bike/pedal apparatus to a computer and use it to control a game? I like to play Arma2 which is an open sandbox game and you can ride bicycles pretty much wherever you want. I also do my best to keep fit, so I thought (if its possible) it would be awesome to get the cycle to control the back/forwards of the game. I get exercise, I play game at the same time. Win situation all round lol.

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Circuit Thermalito

Liverpool Waterfront Circuit (WIP)

Bike Control

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

Date of patent 1987.... Were not going to see it are we...

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2013 - Nando must come through..

Unlikely, if it was do-able we'd have seen it by now.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

With the wii fit, there is a part where u ride a bike by stepping faster and slower on the wii board thingy. Im sure it
can be done, just not sure how many people would buy it.

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2013 - Nando must come through..

You could, you know, go out and cycle?

What's with this lark of computer gaming whilst you exercise?

As cool as the Wii is, and as well meant as Wii fit is, I don't think there is any real substitute for proper old keep fit. The motion sensing on the consoles sure is clever, but it isn't really going to accurately simulate a routine that is going to work the bodies muscles in the same way as actually getting out there and going running, swimming, rowing, weight lifting etc is going to do.

My advice is forget about tying to multitask gaming with exercise, drop the console for a goddam minute, pick up you iPod, select our favourite play list and get your arse down to the gym or go out for a run or something.

A Gym? Whats a Gym
"

"

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2013 - Nando must come through..



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2010 10:44AM by casabonka.

@NickV, uhm, I never learned how to ride a bike. Parents never got round to teaching me.

Wouldn't mind going out for a run or anything like that it's not like I'm trying to avoid real world excercise. I have a cross trainer which I do about 15 mins on a day, sit ups, pressups etc. I just wanted to make it a bit more interesting than just listening to some music lol. Would be cool to get a cycle machine and actually go out for a virtual bikeride in Sahrani or Chernarussia or something. I've got a few mates who have wii fits and I've tried them and wasn't impressed as they only really skim the surface when it comes to a workout. I guess they're more of a feel good factor.

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Circuit Thermalito

Liverpool Waterfront Circuit (WIP)

No.... they're a novelty factor.

Feel good comes from proper exercise as well. I can't really give you a decisive review on wii fit, as I've never used it and don't have any gaming consoles anyway. But I do know you get feel good, after proper exercise. Because I do a structured routine on an almost daily basis.

The feel good partly comes from the endorphins that are released into your blood stream during/after exercise and partly from the thrill of exceeding what you thought were your limits of stamina etc.

I think the concept is good, the market is small for this kind of thing, I’m sorry that I cannot remember the name of the machine or the company.
In 1987 on a Saturday, I was asked to do a demo on a stationary trainer, the sales guy programmed in my height and weight and I road over a course that was one of 50 courses in the machine, it was supposed to represent a stage of a race and I think it was about 5% race distance.

The rider could see the terrain (as in gp4 Key 8) and the road on the screen in front of the handlebars. Your training bike was bolted in, front wheel removed the rear wheel on a roller that had a magnetic resistance that changed according to the terrain. Wind resistance was also programmed and reasonably accurate. There was another cyclist on the course and you could get a slipstream from the other rider.

I did some searching wasn’t able to find anything like it. I was training about 700 km per week, so I didn’t need a simulator.
I do remember asking the sales person of the manufacture, if you could hook them up in series and have races and I believe the answer was yes, that was interesting to me.

Anyway I would try asking around some of the old bicycle stores and see if you can find one of the "old" sales guys that remember what we’re talking about and if they ever bought and sold a trainer like that, possibly get the company name.