The discussion in class about the energy sector reminded me of a project I worked on during my summer internship -- Green Gyms, such as
this one in Portland, OR. These types of gyms are powered by the energy produced by people using the gym equipment. While most of these gyms are small players and cater to a niche group, I think there is a increasing interest in measuring your energy consumption, as demonstrated by services like Microsoft Hohm and GE Smart Grid. Using this equipment for home fitness and powering your home might also be way to reduce energy costs (and encourage you to exercise).
Many of these gyms do encourage their customers through an
incentive program, earning rewards for the amount of power contributed. It would also be interesting if they tracked how much energy each customer produced, creating additional incentives.
These are some related articles:
That's funny, I had a boss at an old job who used to rant about how gym equipment should create energy instead of use it. "Buildings powered by jocks!" he would say. I guess he should have started a company instead.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting because some gyms have rows and rows of cardio machines that suck up energy to produce resistance for the workout.
ReplyDeleteProbably the best way to sell this is the personal energy production/expenditure tracking. At most gyms you step on the machine, workout, and can write down your own stats if you are interested in keeping it. Now the gym will track your stats and be able to give you the information. This concept links the user with the machine and the performance tracking will be the true benefit. This reminds me of what casinos do to track and reward frequent use.
People could also save energy by working out... outside, but I think that's a different topic.