The idea of harnessing the energy output of exercisers to create usable power from burnt calories fascinates me, like using an indoor bike trainer to charge a battery. When I saw images of the River Gym, a human-powered commuter ferry powered by gym users, I was mesmerized.
Architect Mitchell Joachim teamed up with personal trainer Douglas Joachim to create the Human Powered Floating Gym. Although this concept was created for the waters around the isle of Manhattan, I think a floating gym could work on any body of water. Designed with a specific 15-minute looping path, each floating gym pod moves gym members to different destinations, creating a completely new form of mass transit. I would love it if my hour spin class could help power a trip across the San Francisco Bay. Sadly this design only came in third place in the 2005 Design a Gym contest sponsored by New York magazine, but that was before gas prices were in the four-dollar range. I am loving this idea and have hope that the gyms of the future will be able to capture our energy output and put it to good use.
For more images and the routes of the human-powered gym, visit Archinode.
Conran
Vive Maria
DSquared
Good idea in theory...but you would have to be having a lesiure day. If you need to get there by some time...the lazy girl on the treadmill walking with full makeup and talking on the phone won't help power the damn thing (ugh I hate those gymers). And...I would assume the body of water would have to be pretty calm...I can see people getting motion sickness!
1Omg, this is so cool!
2Great project!
3It's always a cool thing when you can use your own energy to make power. If you think about it, the energy you expend when you work out is no different than the energy you get when you burn fossil fuel...it's just that we're burning it a little slower. My husband made a "power bike" out of an old stationary bike and a car alternator. We plugged a car battery pack into the alternator and then plugged the TV into it. The more power your appliance requires, the tougher it is to pedal the bike. It was kinda funny...I was able to get the TV to work for quite some time, but my poor out-of-shape hubby was only able to power a fan for about 10 minutes, lol.
4This is so awesome!
5sign me up!!!
6Post New Comment
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