FIBO announce 2020 innovation and trend award winners

The organisers of Germany's FIBO, international fitness and wellness trade show, have announced the six winners of their 2020 innovation and trend awards. The winners impressed with their developments designed to motivate people to live healthier lives and engage in sustainable training.

The six winners include:

Category: Digital Fitness
Exhibitor: Sphery AG
Product: The ExerCube League - Physical eSports

The ‘ExerCube League’, presented as “the physical eSports league for everyone”, is an immersive and functional fitness game that is suitable for both training and competition. The game challenges the body and mind simultaneously and can be individually adapted to the trainee’s fitness level, gender and age. Sphery has taken advantage of eSports’ tremendous popularity to offer people an attractive and integrative entry to the world of fitness. The league presents fitness studios with an appealing training programme that is also highly motivational. Sphery is also hoping to reach active eSports athletes, for whom this game can serve as a supplemental training tool to help combat the physical problems associated with playing games while sitting.

Category: Health & Prevention
Exhibitor: Schwa-medico GmbH
Product: Symbiont

Symbiont offers a combination of real-time training data with (electro-)stimulation training. This certified medical product makes it possible to compare perceived exertion during training with such objectively measured values as pulse, HRV, EMG, movement sensors and body composition in real time. This allows the optimum documentation and management of individual progress. Symbiont supports all forms of conventional (training) activities, as well as EMS training. Its wireless technology guarantees ease of use while granting maximum variability to patients and their therapy network. Patients can share some or all of the results achieved, therapy progress made and data generated in any form desired. Links to doctors, therapists, trainers, coaches, team members and social communities are available at the touch of a button.

Category: Lifestyle, Life-Balance & Wellness
Exhibitor: JK-International GmbH
Product: Ergoline Sun Angel Spectra

The Ergoline Sun Angel Spectra offers a new interpretation of sunbeds and tanning in fitness studios, giving them a larger role within the framework of health and prevention. Ergoline Sun Angel Spectra is a Medical Active-certified sunbed - the world’s only one with an integrated skin sensor that measures the sensitivity of the user’s skin to prevent sunburns. The sunbed pampers the skin with special ‘Beauty Light’. Furthermore, the Sun Angel offers a ‘Vitamin D Program’ without direct tanning, as well as an entirely UV-free beauty programme for skincare and collagen formation. The Robert Koch Institute estimates that more than half of all German adults suffer from insufficient vitamin D. The Sun Angel offers a way of creating this vitamin in the natural way using controlled UVB light.

Editor's note: Commercial sunbed operations are illegal in Australia.

Category: Ecology & Sustainability
Exhibitor: IMG Quality Design Sp. Z o.o. Sp. k.
Product: ERGO-ECO MAT

The ‘ERGO-ECO MAT’ is the right product for the times – a training mat that is fully recyclable, helping reduce waste. As it becomes ever more important for society as a whole, and therefore also for the fitness industry, to develop products that are sustainable and environmentally friendly, this mat made out of sugar cane is an excellent example of an innovative solution. The ‘ERGO-ECO MAT’ boasts all the advantages offered by plants – including the absorption of CO2 and reduced emissions. It can be employed just like conventional exercise mats and satisfies all usage and durability requirements.The ERGO-ECO MAT is also impressive when it comes to functionality, offering good shock absorption during training and excellent durability.

Category: Performance
Exhibitor: Eleiko Group AB
Product: EVO Rotating Dumbbell

The ‘EVO Rotating Dumbbells’ offer excellent functionality and a rugged design. Their innovative rotation mechanism makes them the first to simulate barbell training, raising strength training with free weights to a whole new level. Utilisation of ‘EVO Rotating Dumbbells’ makes it possible to raise trainees’ motivation while stimulating improved results.

Category: Start-ups
Exhibitor: air up GmbH
Product: air up

air up GmbH is offering a novel new drinking experience – pure water is transformed into a taste experience without adding anything whatsoever. In this way, air up is one of many innovative start-ups addressing essential issues such as sustainability for the fitness industry and providing new solutions. air up is a unique new product that unites two sensory qualities: taste and smell. The air up bottle relies on retronasal olfaction through the mouth. The bottle’s replaceable scent pods add fragrant air to the water as it is drunk. When the water is swallowed, these scents separate from the water and rise through the pharynx to the smell centre where they are perceived as taste. The beverage itself continues to be pure water. With its innovative product, air up has declared war on the excessive consumption of sugar in soft drinks, offering an effective aid for people who do not like to drink plain water.

An international panel of experts was once again responsible for assessing the quality of submissions for the 2020 awards. Members include Prof. Dr. Ingo Froböse, University Professor for Prevention and Rehabilitation at the German Sport University Cologne, Dr. Niels Nagel, Office Manager at DIFG e.V. and Prof. Dr. Thomas Rieger, Professor for Sports Management at the University of Applied Sciences Europe. This year’s panel also welcomed Natalia Karbasova, Founder of FitTech Summit and Anja Beverwijck, Communications Executive and Event Director at EuropeActive. The award is supported by Bodymedia as official media partner.

 FIBO 2020 trade show will be held from 1st to 4th October. Click here for details in the Australasian Leisure Management industry Calendar.

Images from top: ExerCube League (credit: Sphery AG); Symbiont (credit: Schwa-medico GmbH); Ergoline Sonnenengel Spectra (credit: Ergoline); ERGO-ECO MAT (credit: IMG Quality Design); EVO Rotating Dumbbell (credit: Eleiko Group AB); Photo air up (credit: air up GmbH).