Ideas

What is the product?

These products exist already. http://www.nytimes.c...0/health/30exer.html
And there are games that involve peddling a bike etc

The product could be anything (better product would be that product which is addictive like video games) that runs with direct electric power plus rechargeable battery (we need direct electric power because i think the rechargeable battery alone would not be enough as a power source- if power from rechargable battery is enough then it woud be even better).

The aim is to workexercise 10-15 minutes to play or operate for an hour- work 10-15mins to enjoy 1hr.

I donot know if there is any products like this exists- hope not. Peddling a bike is a different game. Children, even adult are addicted by video games than other physical games. So, if we provide the product that would make workexercise to enjoy their video game it would be healthy for them. And this product would help lots of parents in making their children exercise.

And thank you very much for your comments.

Nintendo Wii maybe?
Or are you referring to a (for exmaple) a program on the computer which terminates/pauses all programs after one hour for 10-15 minutes so that the childeren have to do something else for those 10-15 minutes?

I really don't get it. Am I being dumb?

a player has to work on paddling for 10-15mins to recharge battries which fully or partially is used to provide energy that runs the product for an hour.
If the person paddles for 20-30 mins then he would be able to charge the battery that would run the game for 2hrs.
The player has to first of all charge the battery and then only put the battery in the right place to play it.

But in case the power in the battery comes decreases then the player should be able to pause the game and recharge it. If the game terminates with the battery going down then the player would not be able to enjoy the game.

Dear Rich2809, I surf the address you gave, that game is totally different from what I am talking about.

Dear jobby, just remember, this product is as similar as what we have in market- video games, computer games and other devices that runs in electricity, and battery is needed like in remote control. ..............only different is, in this product we use batteries that can be recharged only by human effort/kind of exercise like paddling, so that player has to exercise inorder to enjoy such games-video games.

We know children are so addicted on computer/video games, parents can not make them exercise. But, if the parents give those children this product, they should exercise to enjoy their games...

"I really don't get it. Am I being dumb?"
No, I also don't get it.

dear kevin_cox,
you know remote control. it has got a battery right. the battery of my product can only be recharged by human effort like paddling. To do paddling there is another instrument like exercising cycle. When you put the battery in the cycle and paddle, the battery recharges.

This process will make the player exercise. Meaning, the player should exercise to enjoy his video game.

thanks for clarifying- i can see this flying in schools, but in homes? nah

the success of this product- in my view is the parents- those parents who can not make their video game fan children exercise, will be buying this product to their children. They can tell their children- take it or leave it.

i know, for children, this would not be their first choise since they do not want to exercise or too lazy to exercise, but since parents will not be giving them choice and they can not live with out video games they have to take this product otherwise they can not enjoy thier games.

the main buyer of this product will be responsible parents. and we all know most of the parents care for their children.

OK, I see what you are talking about. Humm, the turning point is comparability with existing gaming systems. Maybe something that controls the brightness of the TV or something. That or some type of timer hooked up to the game system that controls the amount of time you could use the system.

Physical items are generally to hard for CH to make.

I think this is an absolutley crap idea!

Sorry to be so blunt

still seems way niche, but could be as simple as some sore of adapter to current game systems that cut them off- i'd bet it exists, but perhaps something to work with guitarhero or wii in particular

Hombre
It has been done. You can buy now at the moment a game that comes with a stationary bike. You pedal the bike in front of the tv and you race against other characters in the game.

Also you can find similar ideas at many gyms.

Try google

There are many activities that you can do without incurring costs for yet another "fitness" device. Talk your kids for a half-hour walk after dinner, organize a pickup game of soccer, basketball, road hockey whatever. Combine the walk with another activity, like count the number of red or blue cars or whatever. Can't parents take an interest in their kids' fitness, never mind their own?

If you can afford another video game then you can afford a bicycle, even if it's used (check craigslist). Get out and bike with your kids, there will never be a better bonding experience than to be with your kids, talk to them, don't shut them up in a room with a battery charger!!

Sorry, I went off on a bit of a rant. I hope the message wasn't lost.

??

My first thought was Wii. Not really sure I see what you are getting at if that is not it.

this product is different from those games involved with cycling.

in this product cycling is to charge battery that is used to power the device partially or fully. we can play all kind of games in this video game. but in bike race game, all you play is bake racing.

And this product is for those parents who can not make their children exercise. the parents who exercise or play physical games with their kids do not need this product- good for them.

many of us may know, now a days it is very difficult for some parents to make their children exercise, children sits in front of video game playing most of the time. This product is for those parents to help their children make healthy.

Just came up I don't understand it

man, i am still not getting it... but if i understand- you need to do activity, biking let's say to charge the battery that runs the game-
have to do enough to get the game going, and then keep doing to keep playing?

yes, tlyden, you are almost got it. the only thing is this product is for those parents who can not make thier children exercise, whose children are addicted towards video games or other electronic devices.
but the way i understand you, you thing, this could be boring, it would not be. to prevent it from being boring we have to work on the technical parts.

dear, vanhees, you can say this product is similar to all other electronic products. the only difference is, we make the players, users exercise for few minutes so that they get exercise.

and the connection of this product with exercise is that they have to charge batteries, those supply partial energy to the product, by paddling etc.

we know there are many individuals who are addicted towards video games, who do not want to exercise just play. their parents may be feeling helpless. so those parents would give this video game to those children who do not exercise and are addicted to video games.

"we know there are many individuals who are addicted towards video games, who do not want to exercise just play. their parents may be feeling helpless..."

The parents feeling helpless? Who the hell is in charge, the kid or the parent? Parents should be there to teach their kids about health and fitness and encourage. Lead by example I say. If the parents are fat, lazy slobs that sit around watching TV, then what do you think their kids will do?

The first step is pulling the plug on the video game and getting outside with the kid; otherwise, you'll be pulling the plug in the hospital after the kid has had a massive stroke due to physical inactivity.

Piss on it... I'm not apologizing for this rant!!!

nice idea, the comments about the parents responsibility? BS
their not at home most of the time!
problem would be that the children find a way around the "loading" mechanism. also an exercise bike would be big and impractible.

maybe you could use this technology?
http://secure.notanu...hp?pr=NightStar_Home

this is an entry for a competition we had in the netherlands, I don't think they are planning on marketing it.
the child sits on it and kicks the buttons on the side, it is used instead of a regular joystick controller or keyboard to play games.
http://www.tudelft.n...Controller_1_web.JPG

In different topics I have read remarks that people think that CH is not for designing physical products, but I think the system is very suitable for the research and concept fases and a lot of engineering already happens without people ever meeting eachother.
is CH intended for physical products?
If not could someone recommend sites that are?
(sorry for offtopic)

smooth- are you a parent?
as a parent, I am going to suggest that kid THAT addicted isn't going to suddenly give in.
I can only assume two reasons to want something like this-
1. kid is overweight
2 kid is "addicted" to a partricular game

if the parent wasn't going to stop those two development, I don't think putting a device on a game they love that much is going to stop the kid from the two problems and it only takes the responsibility of stopping the behavior out of the hands of the parent

There's one blindingly obvious flaw in this. My in-depth research (ok, it was the first article Google threw up: http://online.wsj.co...0308.html?mod=blogs) found a gym with 13 exercise machines hooked up to produce power. When all are in use, the output is around 300W.

My brother's XBox, for comparison, is rated for 1.2A at 240V = 288W.

You might argue that an XBox is a much bigger and hungrier beast than what you're proposing, but there's a huge discrepancy in those numbers. Your idea of pedaling for 15 minutes and playing for an hour just doesn't add up...

dear tlyden, i am not a parent. and to make children take this product, parents have to force- if you want to play video games, your have to take this or you are not going to get any.

and the best thing for parents and children is to exercise, play physical games, but still this product could be a side option too.

dear philiph, the function of the charging battery is not to provide full power to the product, its function is just to make exercise, there will be other sources of power.

In which case actually physically charging a battery is surely an unnecessary added complication, particularly as battery performance will degrade with time?

lets ask the question to the experts first

smooth- think you answered your question, take the game away unless they exercise

Unfortunately I do not think that the answer to this problem is a technological method but a social method.

Gadgets are a sign of popularity and wealth.

Once people evolve past that point the world will be a lot better off.

As for this idea itself, I think the most obvious answer has been provided by the OP: control; and by others: interacting with your kid, aka -- being a parent.

Parents need to remember that they are in control and to stop spoiling their children. In most cases the parent has the control over the amount and the spending of the money the child(ren) have.

They need to do the obvious: Don't buy an XBox, Don't buy a PS3, Don't buy a PSP. Don't let the kid drink soda at home. Don't let the kid veg in front of the TV after school. Don't put a TV or a computer in the kids room. Don't give the kid Internet access in their room.

If they don't want to do anything then they can do it while reading :gasp: a book.

Get to know their friends parents, express to their parents that you don't want them drinking soda, or playing video games for hours on end, ( an hour here or there won't hurt). Any mature and responsible parent would agree and abide to your wishes.

The answer to this problem does not require spending money on some new technology to integrate with every entertainment device in the house.

c0ffee - I agree, this idea has turned into a social rather than a technological discussion.

I think it could work for kids who ARE active and whose parents encourage sports and other activities. I've actually tried the video "game" where you pedal and you have a screen that displays your riding "course" in front of you. It is fun and it can give you a really good workout - particularly if you run it on a hard setting.

Treadputer. Meh.

I also think Wii is going to do this.

So this is a Parental Control function for a gaming console that monitors aerobic activity and keep the system locked down before basic fitness requirements are met (i.e. little chubbypants must run a mile before getting to play Guitar Hero)?

They should make these types of controls for intellectual as well as physical stimulation. Wouldn't it be great if there were quizzes that a child must pass prior to accessing their WII? They have to watch 15 minutes of history and pass the quiz before the system gives them access.

They should also make controllers that monitor the levels of saturated fats on those little sausage fingers. This would help detect rogue potato chip eating during game time ;)

What ever happened to actively forcing kids to go outside.

this is just a one more product which parents can get which has some health benifits

Why not skip the whole craziness of creating your own product that HAS to be amazing for kids (not to mention kids that apparently hate being active) to want it and just create a generic charging device.

So you bike, paddle whatever and it has inputs for popular devices (gameboy, ipod etc.) or it can charge rechargeable AA batteries.

Yeah sure the parent has to take the kids charger away but I don't think you can force a kid to like something when they have so many other options that don't involve activity. May as well try to get em where it hurts and hinder the thing they are already addicted to.

"They need to do the obvious: Don't buy an XBox, Don't buy a PS3, Don't buy a PSP. Don't let the kid drink soda at home. Don't let the kid veg in front of the TV after school. Don't put a TV or a computer in the kids room. Don't give the kid Internet access in their room."
BAD idea your kid will have no social life, and won't be able to function in the world. If your kid gets a job he is going to be using a computer. It will not matter the type of job your are in. Computer skills are a universal requirement in the business world. Plus, there is in fact some good points to games as far as social interaction. Kids love to talk about them and play together. They key is just not spending to much time obsessively on them.

Its totally OK to buy computers, electronics and games.