How Mobile Devices Are Turning Our Cities into Outdoor Gyms

When Friedrich Ludwig Jahn, probably “father of gymnasticsand inventor of horizontal and parallel bars, opened his first gym (or Gymnastics field) in 1811, he decided to place them outdoors in Berlin.

At the time – and for thousands of years before that – exercise was primarily an outdoor activity. It wasn’t until the 20th century that the gym began to be relegated to indoors, due to the increased discipline of physical activity and the need to compare results with peers.

But can today’s digital technologies, which allow us to measure our physical activity in our daily lives, challenge the models of the last century? Can cities once again be transformed into outdoor gyms?

Tech is taking training back outside

As a newly invented addition to our bodies, personal electronics assist us measure everything in our lives, including body activity. Through connected shoes, bracelets or belts, the Internet of Things has been transforming into the “Internet of Bodies” for several years.

This Nike+iPod tracker is from 2006. The first Fitbit was released a year later.

Today, any smartphone can measure how we move around the city – whether we ride a bike, run or walk – and detect our every step. Even the most intimate aspects of our lives – as shown BangFita slightly absurd concept from the website Pornhub that combines sexual activity and physical fitness – can be monitored to calculate calories burned.

In this context, it could be argued that the need for indoor fitness may become less crucial. We can accurately monitor physical activity everywhere and share the collected data with others.

Let’s look at cycling for example: using Strava any street segment in the city can be transformed into a virtual racetrack. Our own Near Copenhagen (currently manufactured by MIT startup Superpedestrian) can be fitted to any bike, allowing individual torque to be measured in sub-second intervals. As a result, the performance of the wheel motor and rider can be assessed in real time.

All data is stored online, so Wheel can operate AI to provide information on paths, speed and calories burned. It essentially acts as a conscious personal trainer.

In addition, this information can be shared and combined with others. This shows how citizens operate public infrastructure, opening up opportunities for urban improvements.

Augmented reality enhances experiences

Augmented reality could add a recent layer to urban exercise. In 2016, we witnessed the huge success of Pokemon Go. The augmented reality game mobilized hordes of city dwellers to invade public spaces around the world for the sake of gaming.

IN Interview for Financial TimesGame creator John Hanke noted:

I don’t think we were created to sit in a gloomy room with electronics strapped to our heads. I’m more into getting outside and building real social connections.

Similarly, we can imagine augmented reality fitness targets scattered throughout the built environment – ​​like a digitally augmented parkour.

The combination of augmented reality and quantitative self-image is what we imagined in our recent research Paris Navigation GymDeveloped in cooperation with a manufacturer of fitness equipment Technogym and a Up-to-date York non-profit architectural firm Terreforma ONEThe Gym is a 20-meter-long vessel that glides along the Seine and is powered by a very special type of energy: human muscle power.

Producing a kilowatt-hour not only keeps us moving, but also makes us more proficient. The very energy we produce becomes an alternative way to measure physical effort and make it concrete.

Around the boat, augmented reality screens show guests how much energy is being generated, as well as individual and collective goals. These goals are constantly updated as participants move around the city. The digital and physical worlds merge in an augmented version of that quintessential Parisian exercise: walking.

Using the city as a digitally enhanced playground is not without its unexpected and sometimes negative side effects. “Digital exhibitionism” is a growing phenomenon led by pranksters who crisscross urban spaces with paths intended for draw obscene shapes on online maps for everyone to see.

On a more earnest note, the Pokemon Go game has been used to commit hundreds of crimes, creating opportunities for robberies, thefts and assaultsEven Strava was there accused of endangering peopleas cycling enthusiasts try to improve their records in the city, often confusing the serene asphalt lanes with virtual cycle tracks.

Still, if we learn how to manage such risks and draw conclusions from them to improve the design of urban public spaces, today’s technology has the potential to bring physical activity back to public outdoor spaces. It could thus enrich our enjoyment of cities and reconnect two dimensions of urban life that have remained separate since the days of Friedrich Ludwig Jahn Gymnastics field in 19th-century Berlin.