If you’re a casual gamer, you probably get to do most of the things non-gamers do, but with the added pleasure of having a very entertaining hobby. But how easy is it to get exercise if you’re an ardent gamer or streamer?
Exercise could come across as quite boring to the average person, and probably even more so for gaming folk - unless, of course, they’re also fitness nuts or find time to visit the gym regularly. You could totally get a good sweat in from the comfort of your home while still gaming, thanks to startup company VirZOOM, who have tailored a virtual reality experience that should appeal to both gamers and persons looking to liven up their home workouts.
Previously: Audeze Mobius Review: The Top Of The Gaming Headphone Mountain Has 3d Audio
VR is making a huge splash in the market nowadays, so what better way to get your exercise in as a gamer?
VirZOOM is leading the charge on that front and their setup makes it so users could have loads of fun while burning those calories at home - all you need is a stationary bike.
The company reached out to us with an offer to review its product and I jumped at the chance. I already owned a bike, which is actually my main piece of home fitness equipment, and occasionally played FIFA or watched a Netflix show while on there to make my 40-minute rides less boring. The idea of riding around in a virtual world just seemed way more appealing than trying to evade tackles or reading subtitles from Narcos Mexico while trying to stay alert enough to pedal at the desired speed.
What’s In The Box
The equipment arrived shortly after contact was made and was pretty easy to set up. The package consisted of a VZ Speed Sensor, a VZ Action button, a mini controller for the handlebar, elastic bands for attaching the sensor to the bike pedal and an Oculus Quest VR headset as well as its retail components (also works with the Oculus Go). I only had to attach the speed sensor to one of my pedals and clasp the mini controller to my handlebar - that’s all there was to the bike setup.
Of course, this couldn’t have come at a better time. With self-isolation being urged on a worldwide scale, a VR workout was really the next best thing. Being able to select and virtually ride through locations from almost anywhere in the world - a neat feature aided by Google Maps - was obviously more intriguing than working out as I would normally.
So there is a bit of setting up to do in terms of getting the requisite software on the Oculus Quest and starting your VZfit account but, once that’s done, you can immerse yourself in the breathtaking VR world and spend as much time as you want.
Setting Up An Account
As far as accounts go, you can create one for free. There is a premium option that costs $9.95 a month or $99.50 a year. The premium account allows you access to all of VirZOOM’s games, all Explorer rides, Avatar upgrades and unlocks, trainer-guided rides, weekly events, and the option of riding with other users.
VirZOOM’s games could be played via the VZfit Play feature that comes with the setup - you could find a review of that here - but VZfit Explorer jumped out as the most interesting part. This allows you to punch in coordinates to nearly anywhere in the world and incorporates Google Street View to allow you whiz through whatever location you select at your desired pace.
Control is pretty simple. The pedal sensor detects how fast you’re cycling and that translates to your in-game pace. You could steer your bike around corners by either leaning in the direction you want to ride in or by tilting your head. Leaning is the default method but you could switch between the two whenever you like.
Ride Through Whichever Location You Want
As mentioned above, you could ride through well-nigh any location in the world by inputting coordinates, but you could also use voice recognition or simply type the city or street name you want to drop into. The VZfit Explorer menu will show you some of the rides already created, so you can just start off with one of them, or you could create your own. You can also see the most popular rides created by other users and hop there as well and, if you come across a ride you really like, you could simply save it as a favorite. There’s also the choice between Country and City Mode, with the former the default.
Another thing that makes the Explorer experience so cool is the fact that you don’t have to ride alone. You could ride along with an instructor or use the multiplayer function to join other players you see online, no matter where in the world they are. In fact, while I was reviewing the product from St. Lucia, a guy from Missouri joined me and we had a pretty interesting chat about the quarantine situations in our respective parts of the world. So it’s also a pretty great way to make new friends and ride with them or, if you’re like me, race them. If you want to be left alone, however, you could simply turn the matchmaking feature off.
The Newest Update
Following VZfit’s latest update, the software is able to work with nearly any cadence or speed sensor and can work with the Oculus Quest or Go without you having to purchase hardware from VirZOOM, with functionality now available for the Oculus controllers.
Below are some more details from the update:
- Smart Trainers and smart bikes to follow, using FTMS standard Sensors that only provide ANT+ are not supported VZfit Apps now allow you to use the Oculus controllers, allowing for sensor only setups Thumb buttons are now optional, but we support any Bluetooth 4.0 media button like the one in current VZfit Sensor Kits
VZfit Explorer was an overall fun experience that had me fall in love with my stationary bike and made exercise feel like it wasn’t exercise. That’s really the goal here and VirZOOM seems to have achieved that rather impressively. If you already own a bike and an Oculus headset, this is an opportunity you won’t want to pass up.
If you want to get the VZfit sensor kit, you could order from the VirZOOM website for $99.95, as long as you’re ordering from within the U.S. International customers are encouraged to get speed or cadence sensors.
