YUR is a startup virtual reality company that focuses their time on fitness inside of virtual reality. The company has recently announced that they have secured over $1.1 million in pre-seed funding, something that is going to be used to further their mission of ending what they call a “worldwide epidemic of sedentary behavior.” Well, they are right. The world has been sitting around for a few decades now, but is working out in virtual reality really the answer?
This first round of investments was lead by The Venture Reality Fund and BoostVC. This isn’t the first time YUR (pronounced why you are) has received investments though. The company was started after a large investment from the owners, Cix Liv and Dilan Shah.
YUR isn’t new to the VR world, as they launched their pilot workout program on PC VR earlier this year. This was considered a success for them, hence making the software now available on the Oculus Quest. It isn’t surprising that the Quest is getting this software so early on, as this is the most powerful non-PC headset the world has yet to see. This headset competes with the likes of the Rift S, valve Index, and even the HTC Vive, all while having a complete standalone computer inside of it.
The software works while tracking calories burned inside of VR. YUR doesn’t have their own VR workout app just yet, so the software is going to work with everything you are doing inside of VR. This means that you can track you calories while playing Beat Saber, or when doing a yoga workout inside of VR. On top of this impressive feature, the software can connect to mobile apps and watches as well. If you have an Apple Watch, it can sync to that and start your functional workout. If you have a Google Fit app, it can sync to that as well. This is the most elite way to track your movement inside of VR.
Because this software will be running in the background while you are inside of you virtual worlds, you will need to go through side quest to get it. As many know, Oculus is very specific about what they will allow on their operating system, and this software has yet to make the cut. Oculus will only allow the Quest to start and run only one game or app at a time, so having this in the background won’t be an option. You will go through to the unofficial app store, Sidequest, to get this application and software inside of your headset.
“We are building YUR to be the Peloton of the future by making fitness a game,” said Cix Liv, co-founder and CEO of YUR. “Gaming and fitness have always been our biggest passions, and we believe there’s a growing community of people who want to combine these two passions as well.”
YUR is also reported to be working on a virtual assistant inside of VR. This could be compared to Alexa or Siri, but inside of your headset of course. If they are able to pull this off, this could be like something we see inside of Iron Man’s suit. Now of course this assistant would only be as good as her connectivity, but it would be good nonetheless. Anything that is going to help virtual reality gain tracking and customer loyalty is good right now, and YUR is on its way to helping the industry with that. For more VR and AR news, make sure to check back at VRGear.com.
