I almost never travel with VR headsets, no matter how many times I’ve been told flying with a Vision Pro to watch movies is great, or how headsets can help you make a virtual computer desktop on the road. But I took one with me for my last three-week trip, and there was only one reason why: it was my fitness gear.
I’ve been working on losing weight the last year, and increasing my exercise. VR workouts have become a part of my regimen, because they’re motivating, they don’t need a lot of equipment and I can do them in my home without visiting a gym. I use Supernatural, Meta’s subscription fitness service, and the classic Beat Saber, with some others in the mix, too.
For my latest trip I realized I should keep the momentum going, and that the Quest 3 VR headset wasn’t that hard to pack along with me. I carry my CPAP machine with me, after all, so I can carry a Quest.
I’m glad I did, because I got in some workouts in an otherwise sedentary overseas family trip, and it even motivated me to get out and walk more. But it also reminded me of something I’ve thought of for over a year. Meta’s just not advancing fitness in VR like it should.
Hey Meta, get your butt off the couch
The potential for VR to work as a fitness accessory is massive. I’ve already seen the impact in my own health. With Supernatural’s heart rate tracking support via a phone app that connects to devices like Apple Watch, it lets me keep an eye on intensity. Mixed reality modes can work functionally to keep me aware of my environment more safely. I use mixed reality mode all the time in Supernatural for this reason.
And yet, problems remain. Of course, a big one is still headset size and weight, and the weirdness of sweating into goggles strapped over your head. There are ways to mitigate this, like a silicone face piece I use to help repel sweat or a visor-type rigid strap that elevates the headset away from my cheeks a bit. I’d like something even lighter with better ventilation, more fitness-optimized.
Battery life also is far from ideal. The two hours of average Quest battery is more than enough for any workout (I only do half an hour), but the battery life on the Quest 3 I’ve been using has been dipping since using it two years ago. One workout could wipe out as much as 40% of my battery now.
Supernatural, Meta’s premier subscription fitness app, hasn’t been progressing much over the last few years.
I have bigger issues with how slowly software and services are evolving, though. When I spoke with former Horizon VR head Mark Rabkin last year about the untapped potential for more fitness in VR, he only called the territory a “stable grower.” And that’s how it feels, at least as far as Meta’s investments in the zone: flat.
Supernatural has seen cuts in staff and budget this year, and I’ve noticed the community in Facebook’s Supernatural group seeing the changes. I’ve seen it too, and for a subscription app that’s meant to promise a mix of music and coaching in consistently creative new routines, it’s a disappointment.
What’s also disappointing and concerning was Meta’s removal of its own fitness tracking app on Quest, called Move this spring. I used to be able to track how many active minutes I’d been using the headset for, which helped me meet my half hour goals. Now I use an Apple Watch timer.
Meta hasn’t made any headway with folding in more organic support for watches or fitness apps, either. While Supernatural can track my heart rate, it’s an outlier. The Quest should natively pair with watches and heart rate trackers across the board and deliver readouts in whatever app you’d like. I want more than that, too: estimated steps, calorie burn, graphs. In short, I want the Quest to do what fitness tracking watches can already do. With the Quest, I’m settling for less in exchange for immersiveness.
Google and Apple are catching up fast
If Meta doesn’t move fast here, it could find itself lapped by the competition. Google’s Android XR could easily find ways to integrate fitness and health features in upcoming headsets and glasses, especially with Fitbit already part of the picture. Apple, too, could flip the switch and add music and fitness to its own future headsets whenever it feels like it wants to. Apple’s likely waiting for more affordable and lighter-weight headsets before making that move, but I’d be absolutely shocked if it didn’t happen.
The Quest 3 and 3S design is compact, but it’s still not ideally constructed for fitness. Will Meta ever invest further, or pull back?
Fitness is also, to me, the killer app of VR more than anything else. I can’t get a holographic coach and movement-aware activities anywhere else. When it’s good, it’s like a magic portable gym. And whatever company can ace that experience will have a killer pitch to the people who already spend hundreds or even thousands on fitness equipment and gyms, who might find it a lot more justifiable to spend up than would-be VR gamers or movie watchers.
I expect Meta to add fitness and health functions to its XR devices at Meta’s VR, AR and AI-focused Connect developer conference this September. The company’s latest Oakley smart glasses are clearly sports-focused. And when I asked Meta’s wearable head, Alex Himel, whether more fitness and sports features would be coming to Meta’s hardware, he told me to stay tuned to Connect.
Meta might choose to emphasize fitness hook-ins to its smart glasses, including an expected pair later this year with wrist-based controls and a display. Maybe there will be integrations with watches and fitness apps to track or start workouts, or even, as rumored, Meta might even make its own watch. I hope Meta doesn’t forget about its VR devices, though. Virtual workouts are a very real and useful present tool, and I want them to be even better in the future. Now is the time to make it happen, because if Meta doesn’t move faster, someone else will.
