For the first time ever, users can exercise in a virtual world by simply moving their bodies, without the use of any game controller or peripheral. The innovation will premiere at the Club Industry 2008 conference and trade show in Chicago, which kicks off Oct. 16 at McCormick Place.

The first-ever collaboration brings the advanced gesture-based 3D gaming technology from Softkinetic onto iTech Fitness’ XRKade active gaming platform. The result is a unique, immersive active gaming experience.

“Our goal is to make our active gaming experiences as real and as fun as possible. Softkinetic’s gesture recognition technology is a natural fit for XRKade platforms and games,” said Mike Hansen, CEO of iTech. “We are excited to unveil our first use of this technology into an active gaming application.”

In the game, the user enters a virtual boxing gym. Your “avatar” (you in the game) punches workout bags, following your own movements in real time – without the need for any special equipment or controllers. This active gaming breakthrough was achieved through revolutionary gesture recognition middleware from Softkinetic, a depth sensing camera, combined with the XRKade immersive fitness platform developed by iTech Fitness. The game itself was developed by Softkinetic and iTech Fitness’ talented game studio.

“We believe that the exergaming market has a very bright future. Exercise has to be fun and only by eliminating the use of tools and controllers can you make the experience engaging and intuitive,” said Michel Tombroff, CEO, Softkinetic. “Our software platform has that ability to create a natural interface with the virtual worlds and we are looking forward to develop this exciting market with a leading exergaming partner such as iTechFitness.”