3_0_ScanMag_66_July_2014_Text_Svetlana:Scan Magazine 1
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Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Finnish Gaming
and a city trail. The orienteering programme comes with the ever-changing terrain you would expect, but Nurkkala is quick to point out that bumps and hills are carefully designed so as to avoid stumbling. Different kinds of games, for instance collecting a number of clues in a set time, will be incorporated to a greater degree in the future. As Nurkkala jokes, “Before long we’ll be able to add a bear or two at the foot of the hill, just to up the excitement a little…” Three sizes fit all Athene’s exergaming environment currently comes in three models: Basic, Advanced and Premium. Suitable for spaces of different size, the experience gets more intense the bigger the platform is. The Basic model features a large screen placed right in front of the person exercising, much like a TV. Advanced provides three screens on a slight angle, which
Exergaming is primarily designed for use in gyms, designed to fit a variety of equipment such as treadmills, bikes and rowing machines, and transporting the user to different environments including beaches and forests.
means that the virtual landscape can also be seen in your peripheral vision. Premium is built like a cave, with three walls on which the virtual environment is projected. It is also possible to complete the structure with a stylish roof. “It’s fun seeing people’s faces when they try it for the first time,” smiles Nurkkala. “They are completely blown away by how real it looks!” The immersive gaming view and advanced motion control allow the user to interact with the scene that is played out on the
screens. It is also possible to project the landscape onto the floor. As Nurkkala explains: “If you are running on the treadmill, you will see the ground below you just like you would outdoors. And if you are using, say, a rowing machine, you’d be looking at the water of the lake beneath you.” A forest road to rehabilitation Exergaming is also used in fitness testing and, most recently, rehabilitation. Both are currently being piloted. The fitness testing platform is a large treadmill with
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