This Bike Controller Lets You Play Video Games and Burn Calories at the Same Time

Playing video games can be a lot of fun, but unfortunately it takes away from time that you could actually be using to exercise and keep your body in shape, or perhaps accomplishing other important tasks like chores or work. It may not help you with the last two, but if you’d like to combine exercise with your favorite video games, this nifty device should work very well.

For less than $50, Jaymis Loveday’s design integrates an encoder into your exercise bike, using a Teensy board to interface it with a computer. Though control may suffer if you’re playing with people that simply have to move a thumb to reverse direction, if you’re competing against the computer, or n00bz even, it still should offer lots of entertainment!

I wanted to create a system that could be used with many different games, would produce forward and backward, analogue-style controls, and which could utilise whatever rotation-based exercise equipment players already own.

So far, Loveday has used the calorie-burning controller for Rocket League, but says it will work just fine for games like DayZ, Minecraft, or anything that involves plenty of walking or running. You can see it in action below!