Category: Fitness

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VZfit Fitness Service Comes To Oculus Quest Store With Google Street View

VZfit launches its subscription fitness service this week on the Oculus Store for Quest with smart bike and Google Maps Street View integration.

The workout service hits the Oculus Store on April 15, though it was previously available for Quest outside the store. VZfit’s focus is on transporting users to exercise virtually anywhere around the world using Google Maps Street View.

The street view data is taken and mapped onto the environment around you, allowing you to work out in any environment and move along roads while exercising just like real life. The developers, VirZOOM, say there’s over 10 million miles of street view data to explore using the app, which also allows you to workout with a friend and create your own virtual exercise routes.

vzfit oculus quest

VZfit has Strava and Fitbit support, alongside connectivity with “most smart bike devices and trainer sensors.” The app works with and without cardio machines — there are full body workouts as well — but you’ll also be able to purchase a cadence sensor (VirZOOM recommends this one) if you want to connect the app to a stationary exercise bike that doesn’t have smart bike functionality.

VirZOOM says the app is aimed at “mid-level fitness groups who are looking for regular, 30-minute exercise sessions.” Beta testing on thousands of Quest users suggests most users are in their 30s or 40s, with an “almost even” split between males and females.

vzfit oculus quest

The app is adopting a subscription model with a free 7-day trial and then $9.99 a month. A discounted annual membership rate will be “available soon”. Developers say the service also supports popular music that can play during your workout through feed.fm and you can have “unlimited” family accounts through a single Oculus ID.

VZfit is available April 15 on the Oculus Store for Oculus Quest.

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Gym Masters Brings Story-Driven Fitness to Kickstarter

Gym Masters

There are various ways you can utilise virtual reality (VR) to help burn a few calories and stay healthy whilst indoors, from rhythm-action titles keeping you moving to the beat to those that offer subscription models. Indie studio ViFit is aiming to make a mark in the genre with its first title Gym Masters. Last week saw the team launch a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to help support development, already achieving over half of its goal.

Gym Masters

Rather than purely being an energetic videogame, Gym Masters is a story-driven fitness experience where you step into a world full of fitness fanatics. This journey will see three gym masters put you to the test in a series of energetic mini-games, each focused on a body part – upper body, lower body or core. Completing these will earn objects and upgrades as you also have a dojo to maintain and customise however you wish.

“We aim to provide people who do not normally workout with a solution that will keep them healthy while having a blast. After months of planning and testing, Gym Masters is a story-based exercise game: you will arrive in your father’s hometown and you will have to continue his legacy. Mentored by local gym masters in order to increase your experience and level up until you reach the final battle, in which you will have to battle your father’s lifelong worst enemy,” explains CEO and co-founder Aritz Ó hAonghusa in a statement.

ViFit is looking to raise a minimum of €10,000 EUR to help complete Gym Masters‘ development. Hitting that amount will see the videogame launch for Oculus Quest in Q3 2021. The team has outlined a further four stretch goals if the campaign is successful, hitting €20k will see a fourth master and gym added whilst the €60k goal will see the inclusion of hand tracking. Should funding surpass €80k then PlayStation VR support will arrive and lastly, at €120k Gym Masters will get a multiplayer.

Gym Masters

If you like the look of Gym Masters then for €10 you’ll be given access to a pre-release version of the VR title. But for €15 you’ll get access to the final version of the videogame which sounds like a better deal. Of course, there are plenty of other offers if you have the cash to spend. These include a Gym Masters exclusive gym towel to mop that sweaty brow for €30, a poster of you for your dojo as well as previous bonuses for €100 or for €4,000 put yourself in the game as an actual master!

With the Kickstarter already surpassing €5,000 ViFit’s crowd-funding campaign is off to a good start with just over three weeks to go. Another VR Kickstarter doing extremely well is the Tundra Tracker which is now over $900k after only looking for $250,000. For further updates on the latest VR crowd-funding projects, keep reading VRFocus.

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Gym Masters Brings Story-Driven Fitness to Kickstarter

Gym Masters

There are various ways you can utilise virtual reality (VR) to help burn a few calories and stay healthy whilst indoors, from rhythm-action titles keeping you moving to the beat to those that offer subscription models. Indie studio ViFit is aiming to make a mark in the genre with its first title Gym Masters. Last week saw the team launch a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign to help support development, already achieving over half of its goal.

Gym Masters

Rather than purely being an energetic videogame, Gym Masters is a story-driven fitness experience where you step into a world full of fitness fanatics. This journey will see three gym masters put you to the test in a series of energetic mini-games, each focused on a body part – upper body, lower body or core. Completing these will earn objects and upgrades as you also have a dojo to maintain and customise however you wish.

“We aim to provide people who do not normally workout with a solution that will keep them healthy while having a blast. After months of planning and testing, Gym Masters is a story-based exercise game: you will arrive in your father’s hometown and you will have to continue his legacy. Mentored by local gym masters in order to increase your experience and level up until you reach the final battle, in which you will have to battle your father’s lifelong worst enemy,” explains CEO and co-founder Aritz Ó hAonghusa in a statement.

ViFit is looking to raise a minimum of €10,000 EUR to help complete Gym Masters‘ development. Hitting that amount will see the videogame launch for Oculus Quest in Q3 2021. The team has outlined a further four stretch goals if the campaign is successful, hitting €20k will see a fourth master and gym added whilst the €60k goal will see the inclusion of hand tracking. Should funding surpass €80k then PlayStation VR support will arrive and lastly, at €120k Gym Masters will get a multiplayer.

Gym Masters

If you like the look of Gym Masters then for €10 you’ll be given access to a pre-release version of the VR title. But for €15 you’ll get access to the final version of the videogame which sounds like a better deal. Of course, there are plenty of other offers if you have the cash to spend. These include a Gym Masters exclusive gym towel to mop that sweaty brow for €30, a poster of you for your dojo as well as previous bonuses for €100 or for €4,000 put yourself in the game as an actual master!

With the Kickstarter already surpassing €5,000 ViFit’s crowd-funding campaign is off to a good start with just over three weeks to go. Another VR Kickstarter doing extremely well is the Tundra Tracker which is now over $900k after only looking for $250,000. For further updates on the latest VR crowd-funding projects, keep reading VRFocus.

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Fit in my 40s: a virtual rave with sabers and songs – what’s not to like? | Zoe Williams

In Beat Saber, you slice away at big squares that come rushing at you – it’s like colouring in and partying at the same time

When somebody suggested Beat Saber to me, I wasn’t interested. First, it looks rather intimidating from the demo videos: you’re inside a virtual reality headset, with a controller in each hand, which resembles a swishing lightsaber on your screen. You have to slice through bright blue and red blocks as they come rushing towards you, having first noticed which way their arrows point. Plus there’s music. If you can imagine being in an arcade with a hangover, that’s the dread that went through me.

Second, you have to invest in a headset. There are about six that people recommend – including a thrifty Hamswan one (£19.99) – but only one that’s a stand-alone, in that you don’t need to already have a PC to connect it to. I borrowed one, the Oculus. It’s expensive (£299) and I didn’t want to buy one. Except then I did, because I didn’t want to give it back.

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Fit in my 40s: a virtual rave with sabers and songs – what’s not to like? | Zoe Williams

In Beat Saber, you slice away at big squares that come rushing at you – it’s like colouring in and partying at the same time

When somebody suggested Beat Saber to me, I wasn’t interested. First, it looks rather intimidating from the demo videos: you’re inside a virtual reality headset, with a controller in each hand, which resembles a swishing lightsaber on your screen. You have to slice through bright blue and red blocks as they come rushing towards you, having first noticed which way their arrows point. Plus there’s music. If you can imagine being in an arcade with a hangover, that’s the dread that went through me.

Second, you have to invest in a headset. There are about six that people recommend – including a thrifty Hamswan one (£19.99) – but only one that’s a stand-alone, in that you don’t need to already have a PC to connect it to. I borrowed one, the Oculus. It’s expensive (£299) and I didn’t want to buy one. Except then I did, because I didn’t want to give it back.

Related: Can exercise really release trauma stored in your body? | Zoe Williams

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Train Your Brain & Body With REAKT For Oculus Quest

REAKT Performance Trainer

If virtual reality (VR) is great at anything then getting players moving is certainly high on the list. Numerous titles can get you twisting, punching, squatting and working up a sweat in no time. But what about providing meaningful training which can improve attributes like concentration and awareness? Well, that’s where REAKT Performance Trainer aims to step in, launching on Oculus Quest today.

REAKT Performance Trainer

Created by developer NeuroTrainer, REAKT Performance Trainer isn’t going to tell you how many calories you’ve burnt whilst dancing away to a funky electro-pop track. It is “designed to provide users with fast-paced brain exercises to measurably improve focus and performance,” the studio states, all based on neuroscience used by elite athletes during their training.

REAKT Performance Trainer covers two components, visual concentration and athletic awareness, with the former utilising a brain training technique called Multiple Object Tracking which can help improve your focus. The athletic awareness training requires catching, dodging and interacting with virtual balls improving hand-eye coordination and reaction time.

There are three modes, Recommended Training, Custom Training and Competition. After completing a session you’re given stats on various parameters such as reaction times and where your field of view is strongest and weakest. Plus you can compete on a global leaderboard to help give you that extra push to improve.

REAKT Performance Trainer

“REAKT is the evolution of physical training tools like the type of reaction boards or electronic agility tools that are often used in sports. We saw an opportunity to leverage our experience in designing VR tools to create a powerful performance training tool that anyone can use to improve their game,” says NeuroTrainer in a statement. “The science is built upon decades of sports vision research that we have been able to capture, augment and gamify in a highly immersive, fun and fast-paced VR environment.”

REAKT Performance Trainer is exclusive to Oculus Quest/Quest 2, available through the Oculus Store today. For further updates on the latest health and fitness apps, keep reading VRFocus.

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Absolute Box and Absolute Dance DLC Packs now Available for FitXR

FitXR

With its mixture of boxing and dance workouts, FitXR offers energetic gameplay for those looking to burn a few calories on Oculus Quest. Today, FitXR has seen the launch of two new DLC workout packs, Absolute Box and Absolute Dance, to further enhance the experience.

FitXR

FitXR‘s dance workouts arrived in October 2020 to help provide cardio fitness and body conditioning for the entire body. Absolute Dance is the first DLC to be released for this mode, containing over an hour of new workout classes. The following four classes are designed to be high intensity yet easy enough for beginners to try.

  • Parachute – A complete body conditioning workout, great to pair with a box session
  • Wild – Dance cardio session with classic hip hop moves 
  • Kokaracha – Body conditioning with lots of squats, lunges, and side steps 
  • Stormy Weather – Aerobics and cardio focused

As for Absolute Box, there are now more ways to work up a sweat punching targets to improve your speed and endurance.

  • Lasers And Stuff – a cardio based endurance challenge
  • Sweat On Me – work on your speed, reaction time, and hand eye coordination
  • Comma Get It – lower body focused to help strengthen legs
  • Bad – combines lower body, speed, and complex combinations 

“We’re really pleased to bring new DLC packs to FitXR for both existing fans and new users of our platform. We know what a difficult time it is at the moment and how fitness can play an important role in protecting people’s mental and physical wellbeing, so we’re excited to offer new and engaging ways to get fit from home,” said Sameer Baroova, Co-Founder of FitXR in a statement. “We also know how much our users enjoy a breadth of different classes, which is why we’ve looked to expand both our box and dance offerings. We will continue to evolve and improve our virtual studio to help create the most immersive and engaging fitness experience possible. We’re really keen to hear what our users think of the new classes!”

Both DLC packs feature varying soundtracks from rock, hip hop, electro, and pop genres. Absolute Box and Absolute Dance arrive today retailing for £7.99 GBP each. For further updates on the fitness app, keep reading  VRFocus.

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FitXR’s Latest Update Adds New Environment, Glove Adjustment & Streak Mode

FitXR

Since FitXR’s rebranding for Oculus Quest during the summer, the British virtual reality (VR) developer behind the title has continually enhanced the experience with new updates. The latest one to arrive has now added a bunch of features including a new environment and gameplay mode.

FitXR

Offering a breath of fresh air from the normal FitXR studio setting, you can now choose to workout in the Sky Park; an urban rooftop space with views of the city skyline.

For those that want to tweak the gameplay FitXR now offers glove adjustment so you can reposition your gloves to create improved calibration. Helpful when delving into the new Streak Mode. Here you can select between Training Mode – where any successful punch is counted – or Power Mode, where only explosive punches count towards a streak.

“We’re really pleased to bring a new environment to FitXR fans and continue to improve the experience for our community through our latest update,” said Sameer Baroova, Co-Founder of FitXR in a statement. “This update is the first of many to come and continues our aim of constantly evolving and improving our virtual studio to create the most immersive and engaging fitness experience possible. We’re confident we can continue to make each workout a unique experience for players so exercising on FitXR is fun, exciting, and effective at its core.”

FitXR

There are also a bunch of small tweaks such as improved hit detection, more accurate recording of statistics, and an improved filtering system for selecting between different types of workout and classes.

In its original review, VRFocus said: “As an addition to your workout routine FitXR has plenty to offer. It’s like a drill instructor where everything is done by the book because the system is tried and tested. While the title doesn’t have the flair of Synth Riders or the sheer insanity that is Beat Saber’s Expert+ it can still hold its own in the VR fitness world.”

Last week VRFocus announced that FitXR won the Most Promising XR Startups category in the inaugural The Better-Than-Reality Awards. For further updates from the team, keep reading VRFocus.