London industrial design and innovation studio Morrama has today revealed details of its latest project, Quell – an immersive gaming platform with wearable tech that uses real resistance, haptics, and immersive gameplay, to bring the gym exercise to home.
Created for a rising fit-tech startup of the same name, the Quell wearable "plugs in" to Quell's own bespoke boxing game, created with insight from professional athletes – to sync people's movements to on-screen avatars, whilst also tracking their speed, accuracy, endurance, and power.
This is like Zwift for gym-bunnies but comes with controllers, a chest unit, wearable belt, wrist wraps and resistance bands – all wearable tech that has been optimised to provide an "effective, efficient workout that can be tailored to people's body shapes and fitness abilities," as the studio puts it. The belt combines comfort and practicality using a "laminated blend of athletic textiles that are tailored for rigorous daily workouts across a wide range of physiques", with Morrama using data and insight from sports science, physiotherapy, and human biology experts to "validate ideas before locking in the belt's structural blueprint".
The gaming controllers, meanwhile, include advanced 'accelerometers' and 'gyroscopes' that accurately replicate players' movements, whether you've just made a timely uppercut or jumped to reach for a hanging vine. They also track users' physical progress so they can see how their fitness is improving as they fight their way through the many levels.
If that wasn't impressive enough, the accompanying resistance bands are designed so that gamers are given a decent workout that feels both challenging and natural. How they work is simple: the wrist wraps secure the bands to the body, so your hands are free to use the controllers.
"No gaming or fitness experience is required as Quell is an all-body inclusive workout product that can be tailored to everyone’s fitness goals and gaming level. What's more, it's easy to get started. You just need a PC to begin playing and you can also connect your TV if you'd like a bigger screen.
"Combining gamification and fit-tech is a powerful motivator but Quell takes this to the next level by catapulting users right into the action," says Jo Barnard from Morrama. "Our challenge was to ensure that the hardware we created was safe, effective and comfortable, and we have exceeded even our own expectations in this area. The device really does bring gaming to life, and we are delighted by the results."
Quell is available to pre-order and no gaming or fitness experience is required to get started. Deemed as an "all-body inclusive workout product", it can be tailored to everyone's fitness goals and gaming level. See it in action here.
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