Black Box VR aims to change the industry with resistance-based fitness

By Amanda Ellis Published January 8, 2018

black box vr fitness vr3 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

For most people, it’s a challenge to achieve and maintain fitness. You might get in the routine of going to the gym for a short time — only to quickly fall out of the habit again. But what if something could make working out more addictive? Black Box VR is an impressive startup that aims to do just that — with its full-body workout delivered in the form of a 30-minute virtual reality experience.

The company has integrated a fully automated cable resistance machine, virtual reality hardware, and virtual esport software powered by HTC Vive. Black Box VR has been dubbed a CES 2018 Innovation Awards Honoree and will give the world the first chance to try out the new gym system this week in Las Vegas during CES. The founders of the new gym program are fitness fanatics Ryan DeLuca and Preston Lewis.

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“In Black Box you will utilize strength, agility, balance, and speed in a larger-than-life virtual world where we are able to harness the nature that is brought out in video games — dedication, determination, and longevity — and turn it into real, physical workouts that challenge both mind and body,” Lewis said in a press release.

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The team’s mission is to create innovative products that create lasting change in people’s lives. The Black Box gamified experience involves a competition against avatars and eventually other people in a virtual arena. The goal is to make the gym experience less boring, but for the business plan to be carried out successfully, people are going to have to want to invest in the technology and it will still need to be proven safe.

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Black Box VR intends on opening up small, niche gyms across the U.S., which will allow members to join and enjoy the gamified workout. While at-home equipment could be in the works further down the line, for now, the problem will be offsetting the expenses of equipment, which combines technology costs and the costs of workout machinery.

“At Black Box VR, we are working to bring the revolutionary power of virtual reality to the fitness industry. After nearly two years of research and development, we are proud to unveil our product at CES,” DeLuca said.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Amanda is an outdoor junkie and digital nomad with an insatiable hunger for gear. Based out of Raleigh, NC she travels to…

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