Home fitness brand Liteboxer is taking its workouts into the Metaverse with Liteboxer VR. Announced at CES 2022, the Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2) exclusive title will allow users to take part in trainer-led exercises from home.
Using virtual recreations of Liteboxer’s boxing training equipment, players will take part in a fitness-first experience that will feature real in-app trainers and new daily workouts to tackle.
The gamified aspects we’ve seen in other VR fitness apps haven’t been stripped away completely though – you’ll still be able to compete against your friends and other users by comparing scores through the leaderboards.
It sounds like there will also be elements of games like Beat Saber and Supernatural worked into Liteboxer’s exercises – thanks to a collaboration with Universal Music Group players will be able to sync their workout to songs by artists like Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Bon Jovi.
We haven’t yet had the chance to try out Liteboxer VR, but we're especially intrigued by its hand-tracking capabilities.
Most VR fitness apps require you to wield the controllers while you exercise – causing them to become grimy and sweaty as you work out – whereas Liteboxer gives you the option to put them aside for a controller-free experience.
Hand tracking on the Quest 2 is fairly good in our experience, so Liteboxer VR shouldn’t have much trouble implementing the feature in a way that feels natural and won’t induce nausea.
Liteboxer VR is currently slated to launch exclusively on the Quest 2 on March 3 at a price of $18.99 per month (around £14 / AU$25). You’ll also be able to try out the game for free as part of a seven-day trial.
That may sound fairly pricey, but it’s cheaper than Liteboxer’s real-world service (priced at $29.99 per month, around £22 / AU$41) and roughly the same price as equivalent experiences on the Quest 2. Supernatural is also $19 per month, while FitXR is around half the price at $9.99 per month (£7.99 / AU$14.99) – though it doesn’t include music by as many prominent artists as the other services.
