Exertris was an exergaming

Exergaming

Exergaming or exer-gaming is a term used for video games that are also a form of exercise. Exergaming relies on technology that tracks body movement or reaction. The genre has been credited with upending the stereotype of gaming as a sedentary activity, and promoting an active lifestyle...

 company founded in 2000 by Gareth Davies. Their flagship product was the Exertris Interactive Exercise Bike, an exercise bike that uses several built in video games to motivate users.

The bike

Davies, a PhD physicist and a keen fitness enthusiast, invented the Exertris Interactive Exercise Bike to solve the motivation problem with respect to cardiovascular exercise. Observing that traditional exercise bikes simply discarded the energy input of the cyclist as waste heat and sound, he conceived of a system to put the cyclist's energy to use as well as giving direct feedback of their performance.

The Exertris system combined the addictive qualities of video games with the health benefits of exercise. Unlike previous attempts to 'virtualise' cycling, few of the games on the Exertris bike bore any resemblance to cycling. Instead, the cyclist's energy was virtualised and this virtual energy used to power elements of the games, all of which were designed specifically for the platform. The games also controlled the cycle's resistance in theme with the games.

The Exertris bike was one of the first Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...

 Embedded systems in the world. Bill Gates

Bill Gates

William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...

 show-cased the Exertris bike at the Consumer Electronics Show

Consumer Electronics Show

The International Consumer Electronics Show is a major technology-related trade show held each January in the Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Not open to the public, the Consumer Electronics Association-sponsored show typically hosts previews of products and new...

 2003 during his keynote speech. The Exertris bike was also featured on BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Tomorrow's World

Tomorrow's World

Tomorrow's World was a long-running BBC television series, showcasing new developments in the world of science and technology. First aired on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003.- Content :...

in 2002 and televised on the show again the following year when Davies was nominated for the Tomorrow's World Innovation Awards.

Features

The bike incorporated a gaming platform, an LCD screen

Liquid crystal display

A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....

, a gamepad

Gamepad

A gamepad , is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the digits are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left...

 and an arm-rest with a patented system that simultaneously raised the screen and arm-rest when the seat was raised ensuring correct posture in a single movement. The system was covered by two other patents: one for a motivational system to convert cycle speed into a virtual energy; a second covered the gearboxed resistance unit that dispensed with the need for a large, separate flywheel.

The bike also had a 'manual' mode which allowed it to operate as a standard exercise bike, complete with a simulated LED control panel.

Games

The Exertris Bike originally shipped with four games:

• Solitaire - the player had to cycle in order to move the cards. Higher value cards represented higher resistance.
• Gems - a Columns-style puzzle game
  Computer puzzle game
  Puzzle video games are a genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles to be solved can test many problem solving skills including logic, strategy, pattern recognition, sequence solving, and word completion....
  
   in which the players cycling slow the descent of falling gems. Matching gems of same colour exploded them, allowing players to clear levels in order to complete them. Different colour gems controlled resistance levels.
• Space Tripper - a scrolling shoot-em-up adapted and licensed from PomPom games. In the ported version, the firepower of the ship was linked to the cyclist pedal speed. The player could also optionally charge the weapons system for increased firepower which also increase pedalling resistance.
• Orbit - a multi-player
  Multiplayer game
  A multiplayer video game is one which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time. Unlike most other games, computer and video games are often single-player activities that put the player against preprogrammed challenges and/or AI-controlled opponents, which often...
  
   game in which players on linked bikes competed in an arena to collect gems scattered around levels for points.

In a later release of the bike's software two more games were added:

• Maze - a pacman-style game in which the user guides a cartoon ladybug around a mazed trying to avoid being eaten by hungry spiders.
• Light Cycles - a multiplayer game inspired by the famous scene in the movie Tron
  Tron (film)
  Tron is a 1982 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Lisberger, and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It stars Jeff Bridges as the protagonist Kevin Flynn; Bruce Boxleitner in a dual role as security program Tron and Tron's "User", computer programmer Alan Bradley; Cindy...
  
  .

Demise

Although the Exertris Bike was received enthusiastically by consumers and press alike, economic factors at the time led to financial problems early on. The high manufacturing cost of the bike at low volumes combined with a poor funding environment following the dotcom bust and 9/11 meant the company never achieved profitable status and was forced to close in 2004.