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Comment by seanmcdirmid | Hacker News Reader

> I think there are probably some narrow applications where it’s clearly better than not having it, but I’m skeptical of VR as a platform.

Fitness. It is much easier to grind in a VR game for an hour than it is to grind on a treadmill for the same amount of time.

I have a Quest, the games suck, but the fitness experience is paradigm changing. Beat Saber was and still is the Quest's killer app, but there are lot of similar games that keep the experience somewhat fresh (not to mention new beat saber music packs, I also use FitXR more than Beat Saber).

I bought my Quest back in May 2019, it died around June 2020, but I was already using it a couple of hours a day by then so had to get a new one from a scalper (during the Pandemic, Quest units were hard to get). I really don't want to go back to life without it.

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Yeah, I used to struggle to get a work-out in most days. When I'm not feeling it, I play Thrill of the Fight on my Quest (boxing game - I'm a casual boxing fan). It's the most I sweat out of any workout, and I can go for 45 without getting bored (unlike the rower or going for a run).

I actually got the Quest 2 when it came out, but being as the Quest 1 plays that game fine, and I figure I'll ruin it by sweating into it so much, I hardly use my Quest 2 at this point.

Untethered is the future, and once they get lighter and more comfortable they'll be killer devices. I do find the complete shut-off from the real world a little unpleasant, and especially fumbling around for controllers now and again when the unit is on my face. But otherwise, I've gone from skeptic to fan for VR. (And I do think longer term AR is where it will really take off).

This exactly.

I‘ve had a Quest 1 and loved most of it, except that for me, it was extremely uncomfortable and even left marks in my face after a while. So I sold it before the Quest 2 was released.

For me a VR headset needs to be at most half the weight of a Quest 1 (~0.5kg) to consider it for now. And a bigger FOV would also be nice :-)

Be sure to mod and side load custom Beat Saber tracks if you haven’t already. Dancing (sabering?) to songs you actually know makes the whole thing way more fun.

Fitness? The idea of puffing and sweating inside a heavy VR headset doesn't seem very alluring to me for some reason... Besides, I personally think fitness should be about reconnecting with the body and the real world, not "grinding" and distracting yourself while getting this physical thing done.

We are developing an open source VR fitness game and after almost a year of exercising im VR I can tell you that in my case the sweat inside of your headset is not a problem but you should use the right VR cover. The stock ones of the Quest are very hard to keep clean.

The sweat on the rest of your body is a completely different issue. After about 40 minutes of VRWorkout I usually look like coming fresh out of the shower. Without VR I could never build up the willpower to "grind on" for so long.

Our game does not try to put the game aspect first but the workout. The game elements are subordinate to the movements if your body and the muscles you are using not the other way around.

That's something we have can't compromise on since the movements that are expected from the player (jumping, pushups, crunches, burpees) should not be compromised by trying to achieve some arbitrary goal like hitting an enemy.

Here is a video of this crazy idea https://youtu.be/mFYzaQzsUI4

[1] VRWorkout https://vrworkout.at

This looks awesome. I'm playing FitXR for upper-body and Pistol Whip for lower-body but I really want a tailored experience.

Any idea when it will be released natively on Quest?

We are mainly using SideQuest and Steam, we don't expect Oculus to approve this in the official store so the time is better spent on the development side.

BUT, Oculus will officialy allow third party games in some form starting early in 2021. So if you are not a SideQuest user you will still be able to use it hopefully soon. Although I'd really recommend SideQuest it adds a lot of value to your headset.

Another alternative would be to use our experimental WebXR version, but that is really only for a quick peek, it's not on par with the native version, not even close.

Thanks! I might have to install SideQuest just for this.

It did not sound remotely interesting or compelling to me until I tried it. It turns out it's a great way to get moving without feeling like you're putting work into it. For example, I've been using Thrill of the Fight to de-stress after work. It's incredibly effective at that because your brain gets tricked into thinking you're in an actual fight and millions of years of fight or flight stress response kicks in. Afterwards three rounds you feel the kind of release from stress that it would take hours of traditional stress management techniques to achieve. All without the head trauma!

> The idea of puffing and sweating inside a heavy VR headset doesn't seem very alluring to me for some reason...

It is like hanging out in a sweaty gym, you get used to it. But the quest isn't exactly idea for it, which is why I think my headset konked out after a year of heavy use. I hope it gets better.

> not "grinding" and distracting yourself while getting this physical thing done.

To each their own of course. Shadow boxing has been a thing for a few decades now, this is just shadow boxing to music with visual, audio, and a bit of force feedback. I personally need to be distracted, and I like to be able to keep my heart rate at 70-80% without expending extra will power.

I got one of these for my SO: https://www.amazon.com/VR-Cover-Silicone-Oculus-Quest/dp/B08...

It works really well and mostly solves 80% of the issue.

She's really good at beatsaber (top ten in global leaderboards for many of the songs), but plays under my account (just because I already had one).

Somewhat comically this lead to a coworker seeing my username and asking me about my beatsaber ability. I'm pretty mediocre myself.

I'll give it a try, thanks!

I like Beatsaber a lot, it is less of a grind than FitXR, but I still come back to FitXR since I can get a better workout there (Beatsaber is a good warmup).

Yeah I think the beatsaber workouts start to accelerate at expert+ with faster speed turned on. I never got anywhere close to that though.

What's wrong with distraction? Plenty of people stay in shape as a side-effect of their enjoyment of sports and games. Am I not really working out when I play soccer or go rock climbing?

There's nothing wrong with it per se. To each their own. I don't see playing soccer or rock climbing as "distraction", on the contrary. I mean distraction as in distracting your mind from the present moment.

For example, I used to go running and weightlifting while listening to music and podcasts for example, because I was in the mindset of physical exercise == unpleasant & time consuming therefore I must distract myself "to get it over with". VR workouts sound a lot like an idea coming from that same mindset.

I keep in good physical condition in every possible manner: running trails, playing soccer, lifting weights, hell even playing DDR.

Fitness is literally getting your body into a more physically fit form, it has nothing to do with "connecting with the real world.", whatever that means. I'm down with anything that motivates people to elevate their heart rate.

Very heavy fitness games no, but something moderate like Beat Saber is pretty great. There are ways you can deal with the sweatiness too.

Do you suffer from disability or live under oppressive weather conditions? Because why not just go outside? I searched for Beat Saber and found that it's basically Fruit Ninja on VR.

No disrespect to you, but I can't help but feel sad about the future that that video game points to. Your last sentence, especially, is for me really lamentable, in the literal sense of that word.

I live in a nice climate (well, when it isn't raining) and walk/bike a lot, or play with my kid, etc... There is still something to be said for a focused workout that you can make into a routine that is easy to stick to.

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