Thanks to developers from Vimperk, people can ride through famous alpine passes in the comfort of their homes

VirtualTraining, a company based in South Bohemia, co-operates with experts from FIT BUT on the development of an application that simulates training on real-world cycling routes. Specialists from Brno University of Technology helped the company with research and development of a prototype for the reconstruction of 3D scenery on the basis of 2D video. Rouvy provides a training solution based on augmented reality for everyone who wants to have fun, but also break a sweat.

The application simulates a real outdoor ride using state-of-the-art videos incorporating the GPS profile of the route section. The routes combine animated 3D riders with a real video using augmented reality, so cyclists can enjoy the diversity and fun of cycling at home. All they need is a smartphone, computer or tablet, bike and a cycling trainer.

With Rouvy, users do not cycle for hours at a monotonous speed, as is usual for other indoor cycling trainers, but they can navigate famous routes from all over the world, even during winter. One can easily find a route to incorporate in one's training plan at any time, just connect the cycling trainer to the app and choose from more than three thousand routes according to their length or elevation profile. Furthermore, the data of the activities can be synchronised with other popular applications such as Strava or TrainingPeaks.

VirtualTraining, a company based in South Bohemia, co-operates with experts from FIT BUT on the development of an application that simulates training on real-world cycling routes. Specialists from Brno University of Technology helped the company with research and development of a prototype for the reconstruction of 3D scenery on the basis of 2D video. Rouvy provides a training solution based on augmented reality for everyone who wants to have fun, but also break a sweat.

The application simulates a real outdoor ride using state-of-the-art videos incorporating the GPS profile of the route section. The routes combine animated 3D riders with a real video using augmented reality, so cyclists can enjoy the diversity and fun of cycling at home. All they need is a smartphone, computer, tablet, bike and a cycling trainer.

With Rouvy, users do not cycle for hours at a monotonous speed, as is usual for other indoor cycling trainers, but they can navigate famous routes from all over the world, even during winter. One can easily find a route to incorporate in one's training plan at any time, just connect the cycling trainer to the app and choose from more than three thousand routes according to their length or elevation profile. Furthermore, the data of the activities can be synchronised with other popular applications such as Strava or TrainingPeaks.

"The main benefit for us was the transfer of know-how in the area of augmented reality and video post-processing. The specialists from BUT helped us the with the research and development of a prototype for the reconstruction of 3D scenery based on 2D video. This resulted in the creation of a unique technology for combining real videos from attractive places with 3D objects of cyclists or advertising banners," explains Petr Samek, director of VirtualTraining, a company which is currently strengthening its development team by recruiting new developers.

Researchers from BUT are generally not against co-operation with innovative companies from the Czech Republic creating top-quality products penetrating on the global market. Quite the contrary. "It is great if we manage to co-operate together in a mutually beneficial way. We can contribute to companies with our knowledge that would otherwise be difficult to find and adopt. We, as a technical university, are interested in applying our knowledge on specific assignments and looking for a solution to a new, original problem," says Adam Herout from the Department of Computer Graphics and Multimedia at FIT BUT.

VirtualTraining implemented the developed prototype into its own product, Rouvy, which made the Vimperk-based company successful on a global scale. The company will co-operate, for example, with Tour de Suisse, a prestigious race which takes place annually in mid-June. Their task will be to record and digitise the individual sections of the race.

The application simulates a real-life outdoor ride using state-of-the-art videos with the GPS profile of the section - you can find more information HERE.