Towermax Fitness the first Cybergym in the test

Sweat, fun and a likeable impression - everything you need for a great VR experience! As promised, we tried out the VR application Towermax Fitness in Switzerland's first Cybergym and peppered the developer with questions from A to Z.

Although we arrived a little late due to a traffic jam, we were greeted by the maker behind Towermax Fitness extremely benevolent. We should take our time, get changed in the cloakroom and use the toilet and shower in the back. At the House of Dance in Unterentfelden, where fitness and dance lessons are normally taught, everything is available for the perfect VR experience.

Back in the room where the VR installation was located, Sven explained to me that he sets up the entire setup anew each time, as the room is also used for other purposes. The funny lines that held the headset cable up in the air immediately caught my eye. Sven said with a laugh: "I had another solution at first, but this one works best: dog leads have a good pull, are flexible and you don't feel a thing." I can confirm these statements after the test: no annoying tripping over the cable, no pulling on the head, a really good solution.

There were puzzle mats on the floor to delimit the space. In VR, you can physically feel when you step out of the tower zone. During my test, however, Sven decided to take them away again as they were sliding around.

The application is called Towermax because you stand on a virtual tower. It grows when you hit something correctly and shrinks when you are hit yourself. The distribution of points is a bit nasty, laughed Sven: "If you hit and score, the tower only grows by one centimetre, but if you get hit, the tower shrinks by 15cm. That's why most players don't climb very high."

Before we were allowed to get started, Sven explained the basic principle of his self-developed fitness game to us together with a short trailer: "So it's mega difficult, actually quite simple, so some people are just completely overwhelmed at the beginning." Well then, that's all clear!

The game is sound-based and the elements, which appear either in combos of 2 or 4 depending on your choice, are randomly generated and therefore the movement sequence is sometimes somewhat unnatural for a martial artist. "But the combos always last at least 20 seconds. So you have time to adjust to them. At the front of the screen you can see which elements appear in which order. The whole thing is set up in 180°. The right hand in the VR is blue and the left hand is orange. Accordingly, you have to hit the elements with your fist of the same colour."

During the explanation, Sven paused every now and then and rushed back to the VR headset to briefly demonstrate something. He talks fast and a lot, he is totally enthusiastic about the whole thing. "And these are the trackers for the legs. When the purple columns appear, it's time to kick; no matter how and with which leg." The trackers are attached to both legs with simple cuffs over the ankles.

"In addition to the "Attacks", there is also "Defence". Whenever the yellow objects with the arrows race towards you, you have to dodge them. The head is targeted, so you can only go to the side with the neck in the extension. The arrows indicate which side you have to dodge to. Last but not least, there is also a sequence during which you have to jog in place," explains Sven.

I think the functions were clear, so we were ready to go! Read about the test in VR the day after tomorrow!