VirZoom announces their Explorer Summer Adventure Campaign that will run from August 17 through September 7 in conjunction with the VR Fitness Summit being hosted by the Virtual Athletics League. Participants have an opportunity win cash from a $1,000 prize pool.
VZfit is a pair of fitness apps for the Oculus Quest that translates real life motions into game actions while people are using a stationary bike or elliptical. The two apps from VirZoom offer different play styles to accommodate individual preferences.
VZFit Play includes arcade style games and leaderboard components so competitive bikers can challenge themselves while lassoing wild west bandits, battling a tank, or driving an F1 racecar. There are other experiences and a variety of games in this mode, but all are designed for the cyclist who wants to spice up his riding experiences.
VZfit Explorer gives user access to ten million miles of Google street view images as they cycle around the world. This enables riders to enjoy biking experiences and gain the benefits of cycling for a healthier lifestyle from the comfort of their own homes.
In collaboration with the VR Fitness Summit, VirZoom has released the VZFitness Summit Adventure pack, which allows riders to explore unique, beautiful cycling routes in locations around world.
On Monday the following amazing rides will go live for all users.
- Badwater in Death Valley, USA: one of the hottest ultra marathons (155 miles) in the world
- The Great Dolomites Road: 60+ miles through the mountains and villages of Italy
- Bolivia’s Death Road: 9 miles on one of the most deadly roads in the world
- Bealach na Ba: 55 mile iconic cycling route in Scotland
- Ronda City: 5 mile tour of a mountaintop Spanish city
- Shimanami Kaido: 50 mile ride across the smaller islands of Japan
- Budapest River Front: 11 miles of beautiful view along the River Danube in Hungary
While a cash prize from the tournament is appealing, the true reward comes from the experiences riders will have during these travels because even though they’re experiencing the locations in virtual reality, the immersive nature of VR allows us to feel like we’re really there. Presence in VR can enable these riders to enjoy the surroundings, take in the virtual environment, relax, and cycle in an atmosphere that makes you forget you’re exercising, which is part of the point.
“When the first consumer VR headsets were announced, we looked at them as a truly new form of engagement and immersion over what was currently available,” states Robert Collins, Director Customer Acquisition and Retention at VZFit Rider Finder and Keeper. “Fitness in VR offers a way to escape the confines of your home workout and be transported to a place that allows for a more engaging or distracted workout. In the same way playing on a jungle gym or hiking a trail provides fitness as a byproduct of fun, VR can turn your fun into calories burned.”
VR Fitness Summit
The VR Fitness Summit was launched earlier this week as a celebration of VR fitness and competition. While VR enthusiasts are participating in the event, the goal is also to help make non-VR users aware of the benefits of VR fitness for health and wellbeing.
“We currently live in a time where home workouts are more popular than ever,” says Collins, “People are looking for ways to stay fit when they are trying to limit social grouping and many are turning to VR for this.”
He points out that after six or more months of social distancing, many people are growing weary of home workouts and it’s a challenge to stay motivated.
“With that in mind,” Collins continues, “we believe the timing of this VR Fitness Summit couldn’t be better. Making people more aware of the fitness options in VR and rewarding and encouraging them is more important now than ever before and we were on board with the idea of a VR fitness focused event from the very start.”
VZfit Tournament
Each event in the VR Fitness Summit has been designed to highlight fitness features and the benefits of exercise in virtual reality. There is also an emphasis on transforming lives by encouraging people to create healthy habits.
“Our goal with VZfit is not to have people become super athletes,” Collins says. “but to encourage a healthy amount of exercise on a regular basis.”
VZfit created seven explorer rides that span about 300 miles of riding and they’ll receive an entry into the tournament pool for each day they ride at least 10 minutes as well as for rides they complete.
In order to help people have a sense of travel and adventure in a time when it’s difficult to achieve that in physical reality, the developers designed this event around Explorer. They hope that by the time the tournament ends, participants will have formed new habits so that a light ride will seem like a part of the daily routine.
How to Participate
One of the VR Fitness Summit Rides will be offered for free for the duration of the tournament. That means anyone with a Quest and a stationary bike can purchase a cadence sensor on Amazon and participate without a premium membership.
If you’d like to register for the tournament, visit the VR Fitness Summit website. The campaign begins Monday, August 17 and runs through Monday, September 7. You’ll receive more entries into the tournament pool if you complete rides and ride at least ten minutes each day. You’ll also earn additional entries if you share snapshots or videos on social media such as Twitter or Facebook with the appropriate hashtags.
- Please see the VR Fitness Summit VZfit tournament page for additional information.
You’ll also need to sign up for an account on VZfit. Options include a free account or a monthly membership for $10 a month.
Visit the VZfit social media pages to learn more about this fascinating fitness tool.
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