FEELCYCLE's Next-level Home Fitness Vibes with BlendVision

FEELCYCLE is a Game-Changer in the Fitness Industry.

Founded in 2012, the Japanese brand is renowned for its “fitness in the dark” style for cycling studio classes that keep riders energized and engaged. Unlike other fitness studios, FEELCYCLE elevates the studio fitness vibe by delivering cycling classes that include the sound system and lighting capabilities similar to the feel of a nightclub. With its driving philosophy, “make every participant shine”, the company quickly grew from just one small studio to over 40 locations and has attracted more than 400,000 devoted participants across the nation.

In 2021, FEELCYCLE’s parent company, FEEL CONNECTION, has partnered with BlendVision to take their fitness in the dark aesthetic to new ventures. Together with BlendVision’s streaming service,  FEEL CONNECTION has launched their new service, “FEEL ANYWHERE,” bringing immersive indoor cycling with live-streamed and on-demand instruction to the members’ houses.

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Growing Userbase and Pandemic Drive Home Fitness Evolution.

Whereas home fitness has been a commodity for decades, the industry has seen a revolution as a result of Covid-19 and public health concerns that kept people home. The boom in home fitness delivers a more custom experience, within the comfort of one’s own home. At-home exercise options are also more inclusive of all abilities and bodies with less pressure put on an individual’s performance and appearance compared to other in-person fitness options (e.g. visiting a gym). As a result, it’s likely the spike in demand for at-home fitness options is here to stay.  

As FEELCYCLE grew, so did their loving userbase, driving the decision to evolve and deliver more value not only in the fitness studio but everywhere and anywhere a user may be.

FEEL CONNECTION joined forces with BlendVision intending to bring their valuable fitness content out of the commuter studio and into the homes and living spaces of their loyal customers. BlendVision is a leader in high-quality streaming services, ensuring FEEL CONNECTION delivers top-notch service.

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Recreate the Studio Vibe by Bringing the Immersive Experience to Every House.

The secret sauce for FEELCYCLE’s popularity lies in the company’s ability to help the user immerse themselves in the experience.

The greatest value of FEELCYCLE is the experience of "becoming one with music". We create and provide fitness programs based on carefully selected music, and we have received countless comments from customers who have become fans of many overseas artists and songs through FEELCYCLE. Therefore, it was necessary to provide the same value online as well.
-Hironobu Takeda (武田宏信) , Director of FEEL ANYWHERE Division

BlendVision makes a great partner to FEEL CONNECTION because they understand the importance of users being able to create boundaries within their homes and code-switch from work, to leisure, to homemaking, and to exercising— often all within the same space. The immersive experience FEELCYCLE now offers helps users zone in and immerse themselves in the class with energy and focus! BlendVision’s expert streaming ensures the video content streams effortlessly without lag time or disjointed sound. Additionally, BlendVision is well-versed in the fitness industry and has a firm grasp of FEELCYCLE’s user audience and the experiences they hope to enjoy when taking a class, making UX/UI initiatives clear and targeted. Takeda affirms, “one of the main reasons why FEEL CONNECTIONdecided to work with KKS was because of their initial UIUX proposal.”

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Content is King, But Quality Drives Results

Without best-in-class video streaming quality, even great fitness content lacks delivery. Thankfully, BlendVision is an industry leader with decades of experience and deep knowledge of video within the sports industry. As FEEL ANYWHERE provides a variety of music genres and fitness levels with more than 100 different kinds of lessons, BlendVision delivers the best video streaming quality to bring the classes to life.

Online fitness video content is used in people’s homes across a swath of connectivity levels. With every living space having a different connectivity ability, BlendVision enables adaptive bitrate streaming in FEEL ANYWHERE Service to make sure each user watches the fitness videos at the highest usable quality under various connection conditions.

Takeda notes, FEEL ANYWHERE produces their own video content, “but as a professional in the field of video streaming technology, we received a lot of advice and were able to improve the quality of the content” through their partnership with a streaming platform like BlendVision.

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BlendVision’s Best-In-Class Technology Helps FEELCYCLE’s Home Fitness Excel

BlendVision understands FEELCYCLE’s brand and spirit and is committed to reproducing online content that mirrors the live studio experience in any user’s home. Through their partnership, the two will be able to deliver a leading experience unlike any other for their users. In just three days of their launch, FEEL CONNECTION sold 1000 units of exclusive spin bikes for FEEL ANYWHERE. FEEL CONNECTION appreciates BlendVision’s ability to bring the magic online and make it accessible to all users, everywhere and anywhere.

“BlendVision's strength lies in its ability to provide integrated solutions, especially for video distribution services. Because they have an end to end development system, we can engage deeply with them to provide solutions.”
-Hironobu Takeda (武田宏信) , Director of FEEL ANYWHERE Division

As the world continues to see the value of online, at-home fitness, both fitness content and technology will evolve and continue to meet user needs, creating lasting demand.

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Peace Of Mind with BlendVision’s Solution

How Can BlendVision Help Fitness Business?

BlendVision helps build a robust OTT platform for VOD and live-streamed online fitness classes with 99.9% SLA adherence.

BlendVision One encoding service helps transcode over 12,000 Mins of fitness video and bring 140+ fitness classes online smoothly.

BlendVision One livestreaming service helps deliver low-latency live fitness sessions that boost engagement.