I am presently typing this from my exertainement bike :)
It's a recumbent stationary bicycle to which I installed a little platform where my laptop stand. I can watch movies, play games, browse Internet social news sites while not feeling guilty for not working.
When I feel zealous I even read technical material, code and do anything that is considered work, however it's more difficult to keep a good cadence when doing too serious stuff.
I could see such a setup with a hook between your pedaling and the sleep system of the computer: if you stop pedaling, it goes to sleep quickly. It shouldn't be too hard for someone who knows what he's doing.
Next step is authorizing all the "time-wasters" (hulu, HN...) only on that computer. It would surely work for me.
As I've been working on this I've been kicking around the idea of having a small run of these produced. The design is quite practical for this, but the economics are questionable. I feel like at best I'd make my contracting rate, and at worst lose my capital. But it would be fun. Any feedback in that regard?
What are the cost of goods on components/labor? It seems like it would be worthwhile to manufacture a small run, if you think you can make your contracting rate. There seems to be bit of a move towards proprietary hardware (Boxee, Smith & Tinker, FitBit) in the star tup world so bringing a physical/electronic product to market is a neat/valuable experience.
Worst case you could just make it a "kit" and sell through AdaFruit or Sparkfun, in that case your cost will just be parts, a cardboard box and some miscellaneous packing materials.
I'm very curious if Natal will be able to pick up that kind of skeletal movement and get the kind of fidelity necessary. If so it's clearly a better solution than mine.
I really want to try this! I want to try it with an elliptical. I currently have a little TV in front of it, do you think a projector would be more immersive == more exercise?
Are the 5 sensors really necessary, or would it be ok with just one?
If your goal is to create a more immersive experience to encourage yourself to run more, I'd really suggest plotting an outdoor course[1] and trying to run the whole thing. I found nothing motivates me more than that: you always have a set goal and destination in mind, your scenery's always changing, you're outside!, and you can keep tabs on how well you feel past certain landmarks and watch yourself improve over time.
And re: the projector, I don't think it matters. You get hooked into the game and pedal in that gaming, goal oriented fashion. The wow-cool factor of a project won't change that, I think.
The only serious considering is distance from TV, lots of racing games require you to see small elements on the screen clearly, and many exercise bikes are placed in the back of the room.
It's not necessary if you're going to get up to a constant speed and don't plan on stopping much, or if you're playing a game that lets you effectively brake while you're giving gas.
I couldn't comment on which games are good about this, I haven't tried.
Yeah that would be a good twist on it, but in a way it always supports that; you can adjust the top speed and bike resistance yourself. The only difference is you need to adjust both controls at once instead of just changing one.
It's a recumbent stationary bicycle to which I installed a little platform where my laptop stand. I can watch movies, play games, browse Internet social news sites while not feeling guilty for not working.
When I feel zealous I even read technical material, code and do anything that is considered work, however it's more difficult to keep a good cadence when doing too serious stuff.