In a recent interview for VRFI, I spoke with FitXR co-founder Sam Cole about their Oculus Quest fitness title of the same name, and he hinted at new workout modes coming to FitXR soon. As it turns out this would be a lot sooner than we thought as a whole new and exciting dance mode will launch as a free update for FitXR on the Oculus Quest on 5 November, timed appropriately to cooincide with the recent release of Quest 2.
The update adds 60 minutes of new content and attempts to showcase dance as a form of cardio workout.
Check out the trailer below for a teasing glimpse of the mode in action.
How it works
You, the player will be placed inside the FitXR dance studio, where a virtual trainer will perform a choreographed dance routine, encouraging you to mirror and reproduce the moves. Of course, this being a FitXR workout you’ll be awarded points for both accuracy and energy expended, so dance with gusto! You’ll need to have both rhythm and stamina to place well on the high score leaderboard!
According to FitXR as with the boxing mode, you’ll see other players competing, their data taken from previously completed workouts, and they work out alongside you in ghost form. This should help capture the social feel of a live dance class.
The trainer will also provide feedback and instruction, which in combination with the scoring system and leaderboards should give ambitious players plenty of challenge and motivation as they seek the reward of high scores, as well as an effective calorie busting workout.
Three Modes
The new dance workout mode launches with three dance styles, designed for all levels of ability.
Cardio Dance – These workouts focus on rhythm and coordination and help you get used to learning new dance moves.
Cardio Conditioning – These workouts step things up with a higher intensity aerobic feel, designed to get you sweating and burning calories.
Body Conditioning – These total body dance workouts are designed to increase your bodyweight strength.
Music has always been vital to the FitXR experience and that trend obviously continues here, with each workout carefully choreographed to the music. FitXR promises a diverse range of eclectic tracks, although it isn’t clear if the songs will be new to FitXR or taken from the existing catalog.
Speaking about the new content, Sameer Baroova, Co-founder of FitXR said ‘
The addition of dance to the FitXR studio represents our continual ambition to provide users with a virtual place they can go to achieve their fitness goals but importantly to have fun whilst doing it – and all without leaving the house. We know that when it comes to exercise, people will only stick with something if they enjoy it, and that’s exactly what we’ve created with our latest offering.
Dancing is a great way of letting your hair down and having fun whilst exercising at the same time, and as dancing has been somewhat off the menu in 2020, we felt there was no better time to make dance the latest edition to the FitXR service.”
Thoughts
This is an exciting new development for FitXR. With roots going all the way back to 2017 where they first launched BoxVR in early access, FitXR have up to now been known exclusively for their boxercise style workouts. The structured, full body training approach that FitXR has always stood by has seen them build solid respect within the VR fitness industry. BoxVR, has always been considered one the Big Three VR fitness games, the other two favorites being Thrill of the Fight and Beat Saber. The evolution of BoxVR into FitXR and an expanded workout vision is very welcome. Diversifying their workouts, and adding new modes should help veteran players to stay motivated, as well as attract new users to the platform.
I’m also really pleased that they have chosen to give us this for free, rather than as an optional paid for DLC. I expect optional future DLC packs may follow, as content costs time and money to produce. But by letting everyone have a full hour’s worth of dance workouts for free, everyone gets a chance to try them out and see if the new format is for them.
Non Quest VR users must wait a little longer…
Finally, if you own BoxVR for PCVR or Playstation VR, then FitXR confirm the free update from BoxVR to FitXR, along with the dance mode content will happen, but not until early next year. Sorry, but you’ll just have to wait it out for now…
FitXR is currently and Oculus Quest exclusive, but coming soon to other platforms. Check out our FitXR review if you’d like to know more about the base game.
