Russian VR Karate Trainer Wins Global Sports Tech Competition

A student-designed project called CyberKarate has taken top honors at a major international sports tech event, signaling Russia’s growing role in phygital innovation.

A team of Russian students has won the 2025 Phygital SportTech Innovations Cup with their project CyberKarate—a VR-based training platform that helps athletes refine karate techniques in a gamified environment. Developed by a group from Nizhny Novgorod, the system merges physical activity with immersive digital technologies to elevate sports training.

Lead developer Alexander Ermylychev says the game is intended to be a domestic alternative to foreign training platforms already used in phygital sports.

Dmitry Kabaylo, Minister of Sports for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, congratulated the team and emphasized that such initiatives make sports more accessible and appealing to young people through modern tech. The final round of the competition was held at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad, as part of the third All-Russian Conference on Digital Transformation in Sports.

A cross-platform boxing simulator is also in the works for the International Boxing Association, developed by Russian programmers. Coaches and athletes alike say these tools are boosting interest in active lifestyles.