Students of the Bachelor's Degree in Sports and Business Science and Technology collaborate in the design and implementation of an VR sports centre

Eurofitness presents the Alfa5 XR Sports, a new sports and technology facility established in the original location of one of Barcelona's most iconic fitness centres

Years have passed since the first class of students of the Bachelor's Degree in Sports and Business Science and Technology (CTEF) of Euncet Business School joined the labour market, developing their professional activity as part of the ecosystem of sport, physical exercise, fitness and technology, and now a significant group of these former students has collaborated closely in the design of a new sports club in Barcelona, contributing to its conception and the creation of the centre's programme of experiences.

It is a very special space in a very significant location, the Alfa5 XR Sports centre in the 22@ technology district. The space has a very unique history. At the beginning of the eighties of the last century, what we could consider one of the first fitness clubs was established in the city, where subscription and recurring payment subscriptions were incorporated, as well as a complete exercise program and spaces such as a swimming pool, a sports hall, a squash room or even a shooting gallery, among other elements that at the time burst into the city as a fully disruptive activity. In a short time it was positioned as a benchmark space in the practice of physical exercise, health and recreation. Around 2009, the need to renovate these spaces and the difficulty in defining how to evolve the centre meant the cessation of its activities.

However, technology is now giving this space a new opportunity thanks to the opening of a new sports centre based on the practice of physical activities in a markedly technological environment and distributed in virtual and immersive reality spaces.

In recent months, Catalan technology companies and students of the Bachelor's Degree in Sports and Business Science and Technology at Euncet have participated intensively in the design of the programme of activities and in the adaptation of technology for the creation of a virtual world of experiences linked to physical activity.

It is, undoubtedly, a daring technological bet, with a solid base in which a young team of new professionals from the fitness industry, together with already consolidated companies, has participated in this second life of an emblematic sports center, the Alfa5 XR Sports.

The concept of Alfa5 XR Sports becomes a space aimed at a wide audience that includes from the youngest to the elderly, including immersive activities that take the participant to a level never seen before, in which they can experience the sensations and emotions that practitioners of different disciplines experience when they carry out their activity. All this, without underestimating the leisure aspect that any physical activity should entail. 

The recreational proposal of Alfa5 XR Sports allows you to enjoy practicing sports activities in a group and with the family in which the physical requirement gives way to the trace and skill required to achieve the different challenges posed. It is a space where the physical aspect is mixed with virtuality, giving rise to the experience of sensations never experienced.   

The journey through the different experiences does not leave aside the competitive aspect, since it also proposes a record of results and a ranking of achievements to encourage group activity. In this way, participants can establish their own user profile to relate and compare the results they record with those of the other players.

In addition, at the Alfa5 XR Sports, technology becomes a key focus of development, giving young talents in the field of physical exercise the opportunity to develop a professional career linked to this diverse and changing field.

The initiative gives visibility to an entire sector with a high technological component that is increasingly positioned as a reference when it comes to designing and building unique and memorable experience environments, becoming an alternative to other existing business models.

For Euncet Business School it is a pleasure to be able to celebrate the development and implementation of these initiatives, which highlight what we proposed in 2018 as an educational university option and which dozens of students have already been able to study. For this reason, the curriculum of our new Bachelor’s Degree in Management and Digitalisation in Sport continues to generate a professional profile appropriate to new sports trends, in permanent change and sensitive to technological innovation.