Alo Moves To Launch VR Fitness App With Yoga, Pilates & Meditation
Available exclusively on Meta Quest 3, the app allows users to interact with 3D versions of popular fitness coaches
Alo Moves, the digital content arm of athleisure brand Alo Yoga, is launching a virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) fitness app for Meta Quest 3 that will feature classes including yoga, Pilates, and meditation.
Alo partnered with extended reality (XR) studio Magnopus to create the app, which features 3D-captured coaches and supernatural settings. During classes on the app, participants can “walk” around the studio to see instructors from all angles and feel immersed in the environment. Classes also take place in supernatural settings, like ocean waters and mountain settings.
The visuals will include 3D instructors and “mini-instructors” who can be moved around the space to easily visualize and reference poses or movements. Classes, which range from five to 25 minutes, are led by well-known instructors like Ashley Galvin, Annie Landa, Bianca Wise, Kirat Randhawa and Susy Markoe Schieffelin. The digital fitness app is set to launch later this year, according to Meta.
An Alo Moves app membership is $12.99 per month, or $129 per year and includes access to content on smartphones and tablets.
VR Fitness Gains Momentum
The new app from Alo Moves comes as VR Fitness continues to grow in popularity; Meta is heavily invested in the space, looking to attract the around 80% of Americans who don’t exercise regularly with fun, captivating games and fitness workouts.
The tech giant notably fought the FTC to acquire Within, which owns the popular VR fitness app Supernatural.
Other big-name fitness brands have also bet big on VR Fitness, including Zumba, which launched a partnership with FitXR to bring dance-fitness classes to the Meta Quest.
Studies have found that VR fitness can have a positive impact on people’s emotions, even more so than “IRL” exercise. A randomized control trial by Dr. Brendon Stubbs revealed that 91% of users reported an improvement in their emotional state versus traditional exercise.
Meta, Alo Get Out of Legal Trouble
Last October, Alo and Meta faced a lawsuit from Andre Elijah Immersive Inc. (AEI), which had allegedly developed a VR fitness yoga app with Meta and Alo Yoga before the partnership soured. The lawsuit asserted that Meta has a vertical monopoly on the VR space and excluded potential competitors.
AEI dropped the lawsuit earlier this week, according to filings from California federal court. It’s unclear whether the suit being dropped has anything to do with the new Alo app launch.