Peloton’s R&D team appears to have combined two of Peloton’s products into one.
Specifically, it seems that Peloton may have created a version of their Peloton Bike+ screen (or tablet) that includes an upgraded camera. This looks to have taken the camera components of the Peloton Guide device, and placed it where the regular camera is normally found on the Peloton Bike+, Tread, and Row (these devices all share the same screen & tablet).
This was seen in some promotional material shared during the 2024 Peloton Hackathon event.
One of the project demos showed team members riding a Peloton Bike+ with an experimental game. However, the tablet they are using appears to have been modified – with very different camera hardware.
The most likely explanation for this is that Peloton’s R&D team are experimenting with ways to bring the Peloton Guide movement tracker, rep counting, form feedback features & more to their other hardware devices.
Of course – it should be noted that the existence of this being used by Peloton’s internal teams, or by Peloton R&D, does not necessarily mean this will be an upgrade that ever makes it to market and is sold. We have seen this previously where Peloton was creating a Tonal competitor, but the device, known as Project Cobra, was eventually canceled
Earlier this year, the Peloton Guide user interface showed up on the Peloton Bikes and Treads for users while they were taking strength classes.
However, it has long been assumed that Peloton would not simply be able to bring all of the Peloton Guide features over to the Peloton Bike, Tread, or Row just with a software update. Although all of these devices have a camera (which used to be used for the now-removed video chat feature, among other things) – the existing cameras are a much lower quality than what is in the Peloton Guide. The Peloton Guide also has a wider angle camera, allowing for better tracking of users and their movements when working out.
If Peloton has found a way to integrate the internals of the Peloton Guide hardware into the Bike+, Tread, and Row tablets – this would allow people to utilize many of the Peloton Guide features on their devices without also needing a full TV with HDMI inputs – which is required for the Guide.
This would, at minimum, require people to swap out their tablet/screen for this new version – unless Peloton’s software team has worked around the need for upgraded hardware since these prototypes were created.
It seems unlikely that the updated tablet would require an entirely new generation of Peloton Bikes for this feature & updated screen – rather that anyone who has a Bike+ could optionally pay to upgrade to this new tablet with the upgraded Guide camera. Presumably, some of the other internals components (CPU, memory, etc) might see minor upgrades as well. Unlike the first generation Quartz tablets on the original Peloton Bike, which forced owners to upgrade due to them hitting their end of life – this would most likely be an entirely optional upgrade, and those owners who are happy with the current features of their Bike+ could continue using their devices as they do now – just without any extra features unlocked by the upgraded embedded camera.
Peloton had previously surveyed members if they would be interested in bringing Guide features to Bike+ – more than 2 years ago.
Would you pay to update your screen to get the Peloton Guide features on your existing Peloton hardware?
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The guide is great for me so I wouldn’t upgrade. More people should try the guide- great price and is really excellent for strength. I wish video calling was reinstated though