Next Big Thing: IMAX skyrides
Where IMAX is going, cyclists won't need roads...
Flying bikes? But we don’t even have hoverboards yet!
Make like an iceberg and chill. As appealing as cycling through the clouds sounds, we still don’t have the technology to accomplish it yet (bar swallowing a handful of very potent psychedelics). What we’ve got here is actually a next-gen spin class experience, courtesy of IMAX – minus the sticky floors, popcorn and confused teenagers wondering whether or not to put their arm around their equally awkward dates. Plop yourself down in the saddle with your peers (tight lycra optional), and IMAXShift will rocket you through a universe where nothing but your heart rate and burning thighs matter.
Err… you lost me. Cycling in a cinema?
Sort of, but you won’t be watching a regular flick starring generic superheros and terrible one-liners. Instead, IMAXShift will use the gigantic immersive screens and heart-thumping audio found in existing IMAX cinemas to take you on a dazzling visual journey through skies and other worlds, carving through treetops and exploring the universe without investing in expensive pilot lessons. Ultimately, the aim is to make panting away on a stationary bike a less boring experience, helping you forget about just how much you’re sweating out of every conceivable pore.
Sounds… hard. And expensive.
Spin classes are always hard. That’s the point. Can’t go burning calories knitting or playing Guess Who now, can you? Anyway, if the onscreen wonders aren’t enough to distract you from worrying levels of lactic acid build up, then there’s a handsome athletic instructor available to motivate and/or resuccitate you as required. Sessions cost US$34 and are being piloted in Brooklyn, New York, in bespoke stido packed with an IMAX screen and audio setup. There’s no confirmed news of a UK release yet, but you can find out more info and book a session for your next trip to the Big Apple at the IMAXShift site.
Esat Dedezade
Contributor 
