The most common excuse most people will use to keep you away from your beloved video games is about to be eliminated. Powergrid Fitness, a company specializing in a new category of human/computer interaction called intensity gaming, is about to introduce KiloWatt.
KiloWatt fuses the addictive fun of computer games and the health benefits, and physicality, of sport. It's a video game controller that builds muscle.
kiloWatt answers a major criticism of the electronic entertainment industry - that video game use is sedentary and therefore is playing a role in the growing obesity epidemic, say's Powergrid Fitness's CEO, Greg Merril, kiloWatt is the first product to turn being a 'couch potato' into a physically demanding sport!
kiloWatt will be introduced January 8 - 11, 2004 at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Las Vegas, NV. CES will be followed by a major interactive demonstration to the sporting goods industry at the SuperShow of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA), January 12 - 14 in Orlando, FL. Powergrid Fitness will sell kiloWatt through a combination of web sales, direct-response television, and retail. Suggested retail price will be USD 695.
How it works:
Powergrid Fitness took the two thumbstick controls that are present on standard PlayStation2 and XBOX game controllers and blended them together into a single shoulder-height joystick. When you push it, sensitive strain gauge sensors measure the microscopic flex in the alloy metal resistance rod and a microprocessor calculates how hard you're pushing. kiloWatt measures force, rather than motion, so the reaction and game-play is more responsive than a normal controller. kiloWatt's sensors are adjustable, in real-time, so the effort level can be made easy, brutal, or somewhere in-between.
The kiloWatt system is composed of a structural steel platform base, an alloy steel resistance rod, an engineering polymer game controller, and a patent pending strain gauge sensor array.
From the user's perspective, kiloWatt works in the same way that sports work. It's about pushing harder and longer with better control than the other guy.
Health Benefits of kiloWatt:
kiloWatt effectively tones and builds muscles through static contraction training (isometrics). kiloWatt engages virtually every major muscle group with emphasis on the pectorals, latissimus dorsi, abdominals, lower back, and quadriceps.
kiloWatt's physiologic benefits are currently being qualitatively studied at the Human Performance Lab at Gettysburg College under the direction of Dr. Dan Drury, Fellow and President of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.
With isometrics, unlike with lifting weights, you won't see anything move…but your muscles will let you know they are working!, said Dr. Drury. With the kiloWatt, you are expending calories, and you are breaking a sweat. It actually is physically difficult - a true, muscle-building, isometric workout.
The Market:
Although the exercise-equipment industry is large (USD 7.2 billion) and growing, only 13 per cent of Americans exercise. At the same time, computer game sales exceed movie box-office receipts, generating over USD 9.4 billion. kiloWatt targets that 87 per cent of the market with the proven motivational power of electronic entertainment.
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