SignOnSanDiego.com > Technology -- Entrepreneurs pump up couch-potato technology to promote fitness: "LAS VEGAS - Consumer electronics companies commonly cater to couch potatoes by pitching bigger television sets, more mesmerizing video games and remote controls that can even place online orders for pizza.
But a small cadre of entrepreneurs at the world's largest technology exposition hope their gizmos make you work up a sweat.
Company executives insist that 'exergaming' or 'exertainment' - the marriage of physical exercise and video gaming - is becoming a hot new niche, and the most bullish aficionados say it might even help reduce the nation's obesity epidemic.
The four-day International Consumer Electronics Show, which ended Sunday, sponsored its first-ever 'Cardio PlayZone' section for fitness-themed companies.
The PlayZone was tucked into a back corner of a tent outside the main convention center, far from the gargantuan exhibits by Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and other popular brands.
Although scents reminiscent of a gym sometimes wafted out of the zone, the jam-packed area was popular with retailers and analysts. Six exhibitors - many startups new to CES - showed off digital putting greens, optical sensors in miniature dance floors, biofeedback devices and cutting-edge workout contraptions.
But most of the PlayZone devices, often played on PlayStations and Xboxes, didn't feel like exercise at all – exactly what many exertainment companies like to hear.
"The most common question I get is, 'How is this exercise? I just don't see how this is a workout,'" said Abigail Whitting, customer support manager for Kilowatt, which won a CES innovation award. "But it will tone you. It is a workout."
By Rachel Konrad
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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