The story continues under the advertisement
Imagine wearing a VR headset and being taken to a dazzling wellness club with a sunroof and funky lighting. Class begins and you quickly throw punches at virtual objects that you have brought to a synchronized pace. Your heart rate increases. The sweat is real. And you can see other people doing the same thing in your peripheral vision, only their avatars.
This is what the next stage of FitXR is all about. On Thursday, the London-based company released a series of updates for its app on Facebook’s Oculus headsets to make boxing and dancing in VR more attractive. The startup, officially BoxVR, says it wants to become the “virtual fitness goal” of the future, and unlocking new features could be a step towards getting it there.
“Anyone who has taken a great group class knows that exercising with others, in sync with the music in a nightclub setting with an instructor, is an extremely motivating experience,” said Sam Cole, co-founder of FitXR. “Our overall vision is to create a virtual fitness club and thereby give people the most fun way to exercise at home.”
The story continues under the advertisement
Part of this mission requires optional monthly memberships that are new to the app. FitXR is among the first to use the payment structure Facebook enabled for Oculus games this week.
FitXR also added Multiplayer, a highly sought-after feature that allows people to virtually talk to each other as if they were in an actual fitness class. In multiplayer mode, up to seven members can train together in real time in a virtual room. I’ve tried it and it’s entertaining to experience. However, there is still room for growth. All you see is your friend’s digital head and fists in the corner of your eye while you focus on burning calories.
It’s also easy to accidentally exercise. All you can do is log in to play and feel drenched in sweat.
The story continues under the advertisement
Be warned: the platform can be challenging if you don’t pick the right intensity.
A large leaderboard calculates points while you exercise. The more moves you do correctly, the higher the score. Users can also compete against leaderboards from previous recorded sessions.
VR workouts are not for everyone. You need a $ 299 Oculus headset, which is cheap for virtual reality headsets, but still expensive if you’re not convinced it’s worth it. You also need enough free space to move around if you want to play without bumping into things around the house.
FitXR’s courses are priced at $ 9.99 per month and give users access to an ever-evolving library of workouts.
The story continues under the advertisement
Other new features include daily training, intense interval training, and additional environments. FitXR also promises a better soundtrack experience through a partnership with Warner Music. People paid $ 29.99 to sign up before the new rollout could keep using the old content they paid for. And they’ll get all new content including multiplayer functionality for the next 90 days.
FitXR and other fitness apps received a big boost in the face of the ongoing coronavirus health crisis as gyms temporarily closed or restricted offerings while more people spent more time at home. According to Facebook, FiTXR was one of the best non-gaming apps on Oculus and has one of the highest retention rates.
The app’s revenue rose 535 percent in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year, according to Oculus.
It’s unclear how well prepared the world is to keep exercising at home, and how many people will welcome sweating with a VR headset that covers half of their face. But with many spending big bucks on on-demand spinning classes and high-tech fitness equipment, the trend seems to be outlasting the pandemic.