The systems from “Icaros” promise to achieve your fitness goals through the use of AI. Our author tried it out – and worked up a sweat during the virtual flight between narrow mountain peaks. Virtual reality fitness becomes reality.
So this is what it feels like when you crash. I was just far above the mountains. I flew over the rugged snowy peaks of the Engadin, the coldest winter region in the Alps. Oceanic air currents can no longer reach here, so it is ten degrees colder than in the rest of Switzerland. I am 2,351 meters high, as shown by digital numbers in my field of vision. I know some of the slopes here from skiing in St. Moritz. But I've never been this high up.
I circle like an eagle over the mighty gorges. Just faster. The numbers on the speedometer shoot up: 420 km/h, then 915, now it's 1080 km/h. I accelerate towards the speed of sound as if I were a skydiver with rocket propulsion. It's a race over the mighty glaciers that tower threateningly in front of me. Avoiding it is becoming increasingly difficult. Sweat runs into my eyes, blocking my vision. My muscles burn with pain. They're tense, like she's pulling me up on a pull-up bar. Again and again.
Keeping myself on this rapid trajectory is draining me. And now I have to fly a steep turn. White rings are projected into the sky by the navigation system. I should fly through these lines without touching the edges. But how am I supposed to do that? My approach is much too steep. And too fast. I push myself against the gravity that crushes me. But no chance. I can't do it. I tip. I'm falling. I lose. The treetops below me rush towards me. They greedily threaten to impale me. I feel fear and cannot avoid this fear. The inevitable. I fall into the thick branches of the larches and pines that grow here up to a height of 2200 meters and scream with the last voice: “Crash…”
The next thing I hear: It's a laugh. It comes from my left and takes my virtual reality glasses from me. The laughter belongs to my trainer at “Vivamayr” in Maria Wörth. It takes me a moment to understand that he is standing there and has been there the whole time: No, I didn't fly at all. I wasn't 2,351 meters high. And not 1080 kilometers per hour. In reality, I was only 30 centimeters above the old oak floorboards and did the first virtual reality training flight of my life on “Icaros”. My brain switches to reset. Welcome back to earth. I realize: So my life was never threatened. On the contrary: The “Vivamayr” has just been named the best health resort in the world. It's the medical spa of superstars. Top model Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, designer Tommy Hilfiger, action star Chuck Norris – they all come to Lake Wörthersee to do check-ups or detox. Or just try out the latest technologies in the wellness sector.
In Greek mythology, Icarus got too close to the sun out of arrogance, so that his wax wings melted and he fell into the sea and died miserably. Today “Icaros” stands for an innovative fitness system. A so-called health flyer. A start-up from Munich developed it with engineers, software developers, sports scientists and designers. The idea behind it? “Humanity’s dream of flying,” says CEO and co-founder Johannes Scholl. “Our question was: What can a device look like that really motivates people to do sport?” His answer? “If you can fly – that will inspire people.”
And so “Icaros” looks like a space glider that could have come from a science fiction film or Marvel’s Spiderman fantasy. But it is controlled very realistically. And with the body. The pilot climbs up and goes into the so-called plank position, a forearm support that is usually done on floor mats. Feet pressed onto a frame, lower leg up to the knee in a holder, handles like on a mountain bike. What makes it so strenuous: your stomach and body center have to be kept in the air, but depending on the flight route, you have to tilt forward or backward, fall to the right or left, pull yourself up steeply or diagonally down to the side. As if a person were a touchpad and a joystick at the same time. Every movement burns calories like a blast furnace. 30 percent more than in normal training, says my coach. Whatever it may have bothered parents that their children play too many computer games, they would have fun here because e-games become sports.
The training device of the future is revolutionary virtual reality technology. As soon as you put on the glasses, realities become blurred. Because the worlds that appear before your eyes are based on original satellite images. 3D reality maps and 3D geodata created with artificial intelligence. Whether the Alps, Berchtesgadener Land or even underwater worlds – all real data. No matter where your head turns, a landscape emerges that is so realistic that your brain waves go on autopilot and unquestioningly accept the fake as the new reality. Simulated reality next level. The new dimension: it is a 360 degree training for body and senses alike. “Cognition, coordination, concentration, reflexes, sense of balance, shoulder stability, core strength – everything is required here,” says my trainer. After 22 minutes of “Icaros” flight I am completely exhausted. Enthusiastic. Confused. Confused because I didn't think my senses could really be deceived so easily. That I seriously believed I could fly. Exhausted because even though I'm running a marathon, I suddenly feel muscles and tendons and fibers that I didn't even know existed.
Excited because it shows what breathtaking possibilities the training of the future offers. The fitness industry currently has a global turnover of 96.7 billion euros, and by 2028 it is expected to be over 130 million dollars. The driver of the boom is what experts call gamification or gamification of training. When artificial intelligence moves into the world of sports and brings the gaming or gambling that many people do on the computer into the fitness center. Future fit becomes an immersive experience. A combination of muscles, high-tech billions and research spirit. “Activetainment”, a tech start-up from Norway, is now bringing a virtual reality mountain bike simulator onto the market. Put on VR glasses, pedal and race down the most spectacular trails in the world. The sport of the future will take place in the mind. And “Icaros”? Takes off. It is already considered a digital therapy system on which stroke patients can also train. Patients should become athletes. The Ministry of Economics provides funding and health insurance companies check approval. Virtual reality fitness becomes reality.
