Last year, I wrote an article for the Motley Fool entitled “
Prepare for the Virtualetes.” At the time, it was my contention that more and more young people would begin seeking to demonstrate their real athletic prowess via video games. I further argued that since these new games would require them to do more than just sit on a couch and twittle their thumbs at a blistering pace that this prowess would, in fact, be recognized as a legitimate form of athletics in the not-so-distant future.
Well, it now appears that the first “work-out” facility for these virtualetes is up and operational. According to this article, a high-tech sweat shop has been established in St. Paul, Minnesota. And while its real goal is to combat America’s growing obestity problem by getting kids to engage in athletic activity via video games, I’d argue that it takes us one step closer to the era of virtualetes. Perhaps, the first official Virtualetes games can be held in Athens in 2012.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
