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+--- Thread: VZfit Explorer Workout Mode (/showthread.php?tid=25)
VZfit Explorer Workout Mode - Natepepper - 03-22-2019
I rode my second ride in the VZfit Explorer app today and I activated the workout mode for the first time. This is a really cool product and I think it has a lot of long-term potential. I am posting this feedback in the spirit of "roadmap" -- not expecting instant fixes on a lot of this. I've ridden most of the major indoor cycling platforms out there at one time or another so I'm thinking in terms of how to make VZfit the best product possible in the long term, and what you will have to do to compete effectively with some of the more mature platforms.
The Good
-Everything was intuitive to me to start the app, connect, activate workout mode, ride the ride and quit while done.
-I rode for 30 minutes on the Carmel, CA recommended route in "Interval" mode. No issues with motion sickness and I was able to get a good hard workout in. You can see from my strava profile that both power and HR showed an interval response in the 20 minutes after my warmup. So don't let anyone tell you VR can't be a good workout! -https://www.strava.com/activities/2231567676 (I was tracking and recording data on my phone in the wahoo fitness app from my HR monitor and trainer power meter)
-I liked riding with the virtual trainer much better than riding VZexplorer without a partner. It helped give you something to focus on besides the scenery which made the ride motion more gently. In addition, the effect of being able to ride with and steer around the virtual partner was the best and most immersive part of VZfit for me so far. This is really, really cool and much better than on Zwift or other TV-based platforms.
-The changing scenery is a little distracting but much less so if you're focused on the road, the virtual partner and your intervals. The scenery becomes more of a backdrop and less of a focus.
The Easy
-As stated on another thread, it would be good if the heads up display was a little lower so you could see and manipulate it better while riding.
-It would be good to see the interval counter and/or training instructions in the HUD as well as over the virtual partner's head. When the virtual partner was beside or behind me I lost track of my interval times. Looking around for her made it hard to stay focused.
-Other programs also put a little colored dot, line or gate along the road to signify the beginning and end of intervals - that might be a nice graphical feature to add
-The head-tilt-to-steer function is pretty aggressive. When I took a drink from my water bottle I was running off the road. I think this could be adjusted?
-There were times when we were supposed to be "climbing" but we were going downhill. Or where we were flying uphill in recovery mode. This creates a lot of cognitive dissonance, especially in workout mode. Could you relate road speed to the elevation change/grade of the google map route? That way you would have to pedal faster to go uphill and you could softpedal on descents. It would create a more realistic experience.
-Instead of just commands to "go harder" it would be cool to put some more thought into the actual workouts to vary them with things like "increase resistance" or "high cadence for 30 seconds"
The Harder (but important)
-That brings me to the harder feedback. I understand the restrictions of having only a cadence sensor input. That said, this makes it really hard to create a realistic training experience. The way I was playing the game was that during the "hard" intervals I would shift up the resistance on my bike and push cadence a little, like I would on a normal bike. During the "easy" intervals I would downshift and soft pedal. However the effect for the virtual training partner was that when my "hard" resistance increased I was not pedaling as fast -- so the trainer would shoot forward away from me and drop me. When it was "easy" time my cadence would pick up and I would catch the trainer. This is the opposite of what should happen in real life. There was a big temptation to "cheat" and cut resistance to go faster during the hard intervals. I guess you could solve this in a few different ways. One way would to give clear resistance commands during the program on screen, and then vary the speed of the virtual trainer assuming the rider's cadence would slow. Another option would be just to make the virtual trainer "sticky" so they are always about your speed. The third (and best) way long term would be to allow VZfit to measure a "speed" or "power" output from the bike flywheel or a power-based indicator like a powercal heart rate monitor (https://www.powertap.com/product/powertap-powercal) rather than measuring cadence. The game is fun as is and a lot of people will enjoy it. But to make it a viable workout product that more serious riders will consider useful you might want to put some of these updates on your long-term plan.
RE: VZfit Explorer Workout Mode - emalafeew - 03-22-2019
Great ideas Nate, and thanks for making a new thread for specific feedback!
The Easy (responses)
- Our HUD placement was tuned for upright and recumbent stationary bikes, less for spin bikes. Having a "forward leaning" mode that lowers it a bit is definitely on the list.
- We have spots in the HUD used for Score and Level in VZfit Play, that could be reused in VZfit Explorer for workout info
- I made the Go's "tilt to steer" feel similar to our PC/Quest version's "lean to steer". We could provide an option to desensitize it, but suspect things like taking a drink while riding are going to overload in any event.
- Full disclosure: the "climbing" VO was recorded a while ago for a flying application, and we reused it here to mean "push it now". Rerecording new lines should resolve the dissonance of hearing that when the time to push is downhill.
- It's already the case that you have to pedal faster to maintain speed uphill and slower to maintain speed downhill. That is independent of the workout phases we made to push and relax you, which are purely based on time.
- Since we don't control or know about your resistance with the Sensor, keeping up with the trainer is purely based on cadence.
The Harder (responses)
- Seems like this comes down to your expectation to change resistance, when we designed workouts to be purely about cadence! Resistance and cadence are both valid training methods, but we use cadence because we can measure that from your pedaling and show it in the speed of the trainer. For cadence-based workouts we expect people to pick a bike resistance and difficulty (virtual gearing you can adjust in the HUD) that suits them. I like the idea of adding a resistance mode, where the trainer could tell you to adjust resistance instead of changing cadence, but it would be up to you to follow to get a good workout! We can also look into supporting the powercal device for serious resistance training. Soon we'll share our roadmap to see where that could fit with other ideas.
By the way, our Sensor is more accurate and responsive than typical cadence sensors, because we found that VR motion control demands it. That may not add training value but may spark other ideas. Also the fact that you fully control your steering is not only more immersive but necessary to feel comfortable in VR.
EDIT: Try adjusting resistance to simulate a resistance workout while using the "Touring" workout mode, which keeps the trainer at a constant pace. I.e. watching the time in the HUD, go "easy" for a minute at low resistance, then go "hard" for a minute at high resistance, all the while trying to keep up with the trainer. Note the trainer will keep up so you can't outrun them, and they'll slow down if they get too far ahead. We'd be curious if that feels like the workout you're used to with power measurement.
RE: VZfit Explorer Workout Mode - ntice - 12-13-2020
I know this post is old. I am new to this I would like to increase the bike resistance too. I am going to see if trainer road and the vzfit can both connect to the trainer..BUT my question is what is the LEVEL is that amount of VR? because this is new for me and it was a bit much at level 5 (not peddling managing the scenery/not crashing etc) thanks
RE: VZfit Explorer Workout Mode - df76 - 01-03-2021
I just posted my impressions on Facebook and I share most of the points highlighted here!