iPhone and iPad app takes you on a virtual tour while you exercise

How many times have you resolved to exercise more on a New Year, and have failed to follow through? If you want 2012 to be different, you either have to incorporate exercise into your sedentary lifestyle or motivate yourself to get up and hit the gym. The Virtual Active: BitGym Edition iOS app aims to do the latter by transporting you to 10 different locations around the world while you're on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

You don't need additional equipment to use it — just install the app on your iPhone or iPad, download the Virtual Active video of your choice, and place the device on your machine where you can see it. It works by measuring the vibration your iPad or iPhone feels, and playing the video at an appropriate speed. Run or pedal hard to zoom around the streets on the virtual tour, or take it easy to enjoy the scenery. Among the available locations you can tour are Northern Italy, the Swiss Alps, Northern Rockies, and downtown Chicago.

While the BitGym app itself is free to download from iTunes, you have to buy the videos separately — and they don't exactly come cheap. Clips cost $8 each, and you'd have to double that if you want both guided mode that comes with workout instructions and basic mode that leaves you to exercise at your own pace. Also, the files are quite large — a 30 minute clip will take up around 800 MB on your device.

Virtual Active plans to expand into other areas, such as gaming, in the future. One of its upcoming projects is called Fit Freeway, based on the Sega classic OutRun. It's a racing game that works pretty much like BitGym, except it also helps you exercise your neck with the rest of your body, as it uses your head's movements to steer the car.

[via DVICE]

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