Image: Mark Zuckerberg Facebook
According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, virtual reality is the future of fitness. In a recent interview, Zuckerberg said:
“Think about it like Peloton. You have a subscription, the device is VR, you put on a headset, and you’re in an amazing environment doing a boxing class with an instructor… it’s quickly expanding beyond games.”
All-in. Nothing new, the Facebook exec is bullish on virtual reality. In Zuckerberg’s opinion, after phones and personal computers, VR is “the next major computing platform.”
Investing heavily in the space, Facebook acquired Oculus for $2B in 2014. Doubling down, the company also purchased BigBox VR, Unit 2 Games, and Beat Saber maker Beat Games, among others.
VR workouts. For years, virtual reality hasn’t quite lived up to the hype. But VR workouts caught on during the pandemic.
- Supernatural, a subscription-based virtual reality exercise experience, saw subscriptions more than double.
- FitXR, a “virtual fitness club” accessible via Oculus, saw sales increase 535% YoY in Q4 2020.
According to Chris Milk, the CEO of Supernatural, “Fitness is the killer use case for VR.”
Echoing that sentiment on the Fitt Insider podcast, FitXR CEO Sam Cole told us VR fitness has the potential to engage an entirely new audience beyond exercise enthusiasts.
Fitness 3.0. Whether or not it’s in VR, one thing’s for sure: gaming-inspired workouts are redefining fitness.
