Without a doubt, if ever a virtual reality was needed, 2020 is it. With the insanity of social distancing, self-isolation, and tyrannical mandates looming, it’s important to get your exercise and stay healthy. With that, we need equally ridiculous, yet helpful products to make lockdowns bearable. While you SHOULD just GO OUTSIDE for a walk perhaps you’re concerned about catchin’ the ‘rona. Well, you’ve got options.
Blync is a treadmill for the digital age; only, instead of running in place, you’re riding your bike while wearing a VR headset. Thank you, 2020.
Just to be clear, Blync isn’t a new competitor in the VR headset market; it’s actually just a couple of controllers you put on the front and rear of your bike combined with the VR headset you bought around April to escape the real world.

After you’ve taken your first bath in months, don your VR helmet and hop on your bike. The blue path sensor in front takes in which direction you want to turn. By angling your handlebars left or right, you choose where to go in the virtual space. Watch out for that squirrel.
Turning is only half the adventure. To get your bike moving – wait fir it… you have to actually PEDAL. And you thought VR’ing was effortless. A speed sensor installed on your bike’s rear wheel measures how fast you’re moving. We can only hope it responds accordingly when you hit that rootwad in the offroad course. While your real-world bike remains stationary thanks to an elevated clamp, the virtual you travels throughout vast open spaces.

By connecting Blync to a VR headset, you bike in first-person or third-person mode across multiple virtual worlds alone or, lookout! With friends! The developers have worked on a number of worlds to bike through and games to play, and they plan on adding more as pandemics time goes on.

If you’re not in the mood for anything they’ve created however, there are plans to make creation tools available to the players. This means you can make your own levels and share them with other Blync users online.

Surprising as it may seem, it isn’t exactly the same as riding outside, but imagine the looks of consternation you’d get if set up on this thing outdoors UNMASKED, especially by the Corona Karens out to ruin everyone’s fun. Yes, stay indoors, saddle your bike, see new worlds, meet new people, and more importantly, burn calories and fat while you’re at it. It’s almost paradise, in’t it?
If that’s not convincing enough, stats like your speed, power, and calories burned are viewed on a companion app which installs on your phone (because, apps).

Blync is currently live on Kickstarter with options starting at $75 USD and a January 2021 delivery. If you want some exercise while masking reality, there’s hardly a better option available.