Realm: First Technology to Add Resistance to Immersive Gaming

The Realm System is the first technology to use resistance in an immersive virtual environment, offering a variety of possible applications in fitness, sports and health care.

The Realm System, one of the innovative technologies currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, is the first system to harness the power of the user's body resistance to deliver an interactive, physically immersive virtual gaming experience. The system measures energy expenditure and uses unique resistance bands and sensors to magnify the user's resistance.

The sensors integrated into the hand-held controllers track the movements of the user's hands and body and can accurately measure positions, orientations and accelerations. Realm uses the collected data to deliver precise biometric information on the user's force, power and calorie expenditure. The ability to track the user's power turns virtual gameplay into a hands-on, highly immersive experience while delivering significant health and fitness benefits.

The Realm System works with the Kinect SDK and the Extreme Reality SDK, making it possible for Kinect or any web camera to track the user's movements during gameplay. The system can also be used with Oculus Rift and other virtual reality headsets to add an entirely different level of realism to the gameplay. Realm currently supports up to four users playing at the same time.

The system has a wide range of possible applications going far beyond fitness, including sports development, education, and health care. The Realm development kit is compatible with Unity 3D, allowing developers everywhere to explore different ways of putting the system to use.

The Realm System comes with controllers with IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors, resistance bands (low, medium or hard), a waist belt and an adjustable strap, the Realm SDK, a game pack, and a USB receiver and cables. The game pack currently includes six resistance-ready games that challenge the player's fitness level and skills: Tennis, Boxing, Squat Box, Wood Chop, Zombie Sushi and Realm Fitness.

Realm is expected to start shipping out in September. To learn more about the range of possibilities available with the system and see it in action, watch the video below and visit the Kickstarter page.