The Use of Unreal Engine to Create Virtual Realty Fitness and Gaming Application

Abstract

Virtual Reality (VR) has stolen the technology spotlight in the new era of innovation. It provides excitement and a thrilling sense of presence. VR headsets have emerged from being a concept into a reality people look forward to experience. While gaming is one of the primary uses for VR technology, other forms of entertainment exist. Theater audiences will be able to watch movies on a large virtual screen that is more like their own theater. VR also serves as a costeffective and attractive tool for rehabilitation. Virtual exercises help in motivating patients to practice everyday activities. Beside the health care industry, developers have turned to the fitness industry as well, where they promote exercising with VR. Combining VR and exercising will attain remarkable results. In this paper we introduce the VR-Bike; a system that combines the fun of VR gaming with the fitness of exercising on a bicycle. This is achieved by connecting a microcontroller with sensors on an exercise bike to a VR game developed in Unreal Engine.