[VR Question]

I am an avid gamer and need to drop some weight. I just got the HTC Vive and would like to do some exercise via VR. Any suggestions?

[pkcable]

It's in it's infancy BUT there's some stuff out there, in particular with stationary bikes and VR, which can work well together. Hopefully VRHeads will eventually do a blog about this, BUT in the meanwhile I found this on the internet about it....

Getting Fit With Virtual Reality

[Rahul Patil9]

Well, there aren't any games/apps YET on the Play Store...but as that article above states, oculus rift has a few apps.
Good luck getting fit 😉

[ggendel]

Seems to me that there has to be more feedback from the "real" world to make it work. Certainly, something like stationary bicycles make sense, but if you need to actually move around your space then it could be dangerous. I envision a synergy between things like a treadmill/hill climber where it controls the speed and inclination of the device while you're hiking in the virtual world but to make it calorie burning experience, it would have to be a very tight control feedback loop so you can pivot direction, etc.

The more I think of it, it may make sense to have a round surface that can pivot and tilt while you walk/jog.

[LezCronut]

Very true. Stationery exercise is possible but moving around in space is dangerous.

[ArcAngelMD]

Late to this conversation, but wanted to add my two cents. While VR may provide some gains in this regard - it will not be tremendously different than Wii or Kinect, which has not been all that life changing.

I'm a psychologist (so I understand behaviour change quite well) and I'm also on my way to personal improvement in terms of my weight (roughly 60 pounds lost since August 1).

In my experience (professional and personal) it's all about feedback and data. This is why things like weight watchers and therapy *can* be helpful. But even then, that feedback may be insufficient. I wouldn't be surprised if AR becomes a player in this, but building a habit of data logging and understanding your data through calorie in apps (like MyFitnessPal) and calorie out trackers (FitBit or Apple Watch) is tremendously helpful. Using it for myself and my patients with great success.

[pkcable]

Late to this conversation, but wanted to add my two cents. While VR may provide some gains in this regard - it will not be tremendously different than Wii or Kinect, which has not been all that life changing.

I'm a psychologist (so I understand behaviour change quite well) and I'm also on my way to personal improvement in terms of my weight (roughly 60 pounds lost since August 1).

In my experience (professional and personal) it's all about feedback and data. This is why things like weight watchers and therapy *can* be helpful. But even then, that feedback may be insufficient. I wouldn't be surprised if AR becomes a player in this, but building a habit of data logging and understanding your data through calorie in apps (like MyFitnessPal) and calorie out trackers (FitBit or Apple Watch) is tremendously helpful. Using it for myself and my patients with great success.

I think you are right, AR will have a MUCH bigger impact on fitness. Smart glasses, cycling goggles, or other sporting goggles, I think will have a BIG impact on fitness, just like other articles of "smart" clothing already are!

[GustavMahler]

I do think though that the Vive with a reasonable amount of space for room scale and a challenging enough game, can provide some exercise.
People are reporting to be sweating a lot when using the Vive, so my guess is (please pay attention though that I have no personal experience with the Vive nor the Rift) that it can definitely provide some considerable exercise, but of course not as much as going to do a workout.
I am also basing my opinion on the commentary of youtubers, that it really feels like doing exercise.