[Update: A reader informed us that he or she has ready-made workout pants similar to the one described here available for purchase online. So if you don't have time to DIY, you know where to go.]

We wrote about our positive experience with the Wii exercise "game" EA SPORTS Active a while ago and also demonstrated how to make a replacement resistance band for better workouts.  Now, let's tackle another accessory of EA SPORTS Active: the leg strap, or more accurately, how to eliminate the leg strap from your workout equation.

For people who are not familiar with EA SPORTS Active, the leg strap is that dark gray colored holster around the lady's right thigh in the photo above. It holds a Wii nunchuk controller on top of the user's thigh. If you have some experience designing fashion technology or physical computing projects, you understand the challenges of capturing body movements and postures electronically. One technology that can be used for motion capture is video tracking, analyzing a live video feed to determine the user's postures. It is not easy to get it right and is also more costly, due to the need of a camera. EA, on the other hand, came up with a rather ingenious solution: fastening the nunchuk controller to your thigh to track your leg position. However, two annoyances were created because of this. One is the wire running between the Wii remote and nunchuk and the other the leg strap.

As you can see in the video above, the controller wire flaps around when you exercise—not cool. It's easy to solve though. Simply get a wireless nunchuk controller such as this one or this one, and say goodbye to the nuisance. The leg strap can also be eliminated if you are willing to do some simple DIY. Just follow the instructions below to sew a nunchuk pocket onto your workout pants.

Materials

• A pair of workout pants that fits well around the thighs; loose fit doesn't work
• Two 4"x5" pieces of neoprene, both of the same color or different (your call)
• Heavy duty thread, color of your choice
• [Optional] 3.5" Grosgrain ribbon, twill tape, or bias tape, color of your choice

Steps

1. Using the pocket on your EA leg strap as a pattern, cut an identical pocket out of the first neoprene piece.
2. Trim the other neoprene piece to your liking. It can be as simple as making four rounded corners, or a more elaborate design. Because this is going to be the base of your pocket, do make sure it is sufficiently larger than the pocket piece.
3. [Optional] If you'd like to have a piping edge on the top of your pocket, just like the EA pocket, machine stitch (emulating how EA did it) your grosgrain ribbon/twill tape/bias tape to your pocket piece.
4. Mark where the pocket should be on the pants. Using that as a guide, now mark where the base piece should be on the pants too. Again, make sure it covers enough space on all sides of the pocket.
5. Emulating the zigzag stitch used on the EA pocket, machine stitch the base piece to your pants.
6. Use the same stitch to sew the pocket piece over the base piece.
7. Done! With a nunchuk pocket on your favorite workout pants, you don't need to wear the leg strap again.

If this seems too low-tech to you, Ubisoft has an answer. The company will release a controller-free exercise game called Your Shape on November 24th, using the aforementioned video tracking technology. Through a bundled camera, the software supposedly will follow your movement and guide you accordingly. Sounds pretty awesome doesn' it? Let's hope it actually works as advertised.

Source: IGN and EA