Les Mills International has today launched a brand new “immersive fitness” product in an initiative it’s calling The Project.

Working in partnership with Reebok, The Project brings together group exercise with cutting-edge entertainment to create a product which, in an exclusive interview with Health Club Management, Les Mills CEO Phillip Mills described as “transformational for fitness”.

The concept comprises a three-walled room onto which video content is streamed throughout a class. “It’s like being inside a computer game – a complete virtual reality that changes with each song,” says Mills.

Les Mills has made a significant investment over the last year in producing video content, working in conjunction with digital special effects experts to create three classes for the launch: cycling class The Trip, a BodyCombat/GRIT workout, and a BodyBalance/BodyJam class.

“In the cycling class, for example, one minute you’ll be cycling through the stars in the universe, the next it’s as if you’re in the Tron computer game, then all of a sudden you’re climbing a vast mountain or cycling across the sea,” says Mills.

The concept launched today in London and will now tour the world, showcased within a pop-up box specially designed by Reebok.

Mills continues: “We’re cautiously excited about how we can commercialise The Project. The cost of putting an immersive studio into a club is currently very high, but cycling is most likely to be the first to take off: these are smaller studios and subsequently won’t cost quite as much. It’s still expensive at this stage, though, so we expect it will work best in boutique studios that can charge US$20-30 per class to make the economics work – either that or in normal clubs that are willing to charge a premium for the classes.”

He concludes: “I believe this is as big as when we added exercise to music, or started creating standardised classes. It may be the biggest thing Les Mills has ever done.”