At Metastage, we’re thrilled to be part of a revolutionary leap in fitness technology with the launch of Alo Moves XR app for Meta Quest 3. This groundbreaking Mixed Reality (MR) platform, designed by our visionary partners at Magnopus in collaboration with Meta, is setting a new standard in online fitness. In celebration of today’s launch, we invite you to read more about the product’s creation story, below!
Leaning in to Mixed Reality
In alignment with Meta’s mission to harness the power of mixed reality, Alo Moves XR was designed to harmonize immersive fitness content with users’ home environments. Thanks to advanced room mapping, students of yoga and pilates can interact with photorealistic 3D instructors against a calming backdrop, while maintaining spatial awareness of their real surroundings.
The experience breaks free of the frame, allowing users to immerse themselves in a wellness environment where they can learn about posture and pose technique in three dimensions, for varied lengths of time – whether it’s 5 minutes of bedtime yoga, 10 minutes of re-centering breath work, or a 30 minute endurance flow.
Tom’s Guide highlights the app’s unique way of addressing some of the biggest pitfalls of traditional XR fitness. The fact that users can toggle between life-sized and mini instructors (growing, shrinking, and re-positioning them with their hands or controllers) reduces much of the friction XR fitness users have faced in the past.
Image Source: Metastage
Why Volumetric Capture?
Sports, wellness, and anything that involves dynamic physical movement have always been key areas of interest for Metastage. Our technology shines with dynamic movement, showcasing the texture and depth that make us human. Ever wonder why watching a person do yoga makes YOU want to stretch? Seeing the real, gestural nuances that we are biologically programmed to respond to, understand, and mimic is why animated demos can never replace classes taught by humans. Volumetric capture technology, with its total reliance on authenticity, without the intervention of any animation, is the most human-centric way to bring movement modalities like yoga and pilates into mixed reality.
Tech Radar notes that classes on the platform “mimic the feel of in-person classes.” The continually expanding class library ensures that users have access to fresh and diverse content, keeping them motivated and engaged in their wellness journeys.
Portals: Excerpts from Creative Dr. Jesse Warfield’s Deep Dive into Alo Moves XR’s UI
“A key feature of the Alo Moves XR experience is the inclusion of two distinct portal types, each designed to transport users into different virtual environments that enhance their workouts and meditative practices.
The Environmental Portal that accompanies the fitness experiences, transports users to serene locations like Thailand and Spain, further enhancing immersion. Initially, we experimented with stereo footage and 3D elements to heighten realism, but ultimately chose an 8K photo sphere for its crystal-clear resolution and minimal resource draw. The photo sphere’s curved design, along with subtle animations as part of the“window effect,” give the illusion of depth and parallax and make you feel like you are overlooking a vast vista.”
The Mindfulness Portal was crafted to deliver a more introspective experience. In collaboration with Alo Moves meditation instructors, we developed a calming visual panoramic designed to soothe rather than distract. The scene incorporates seamlessly looping, randomly generated elements that create an ever-changing yet tranquil atmosphere as well as environmental lighting elements.
The serene scenes set the tone of the meditation and allows users to choose between watching the visuals or closing their eyes and simply listening to the experience. Mixed-reality was chosen to allow users to reposition the portal, whether sitting or lying down, so they can have total flexibility with their meditation practice.”
Read the full blog post HERE.
Why This Matters
Image Source: Alo Moves, Meta
The launch of Alo Moves on Meta Quest 3 marks a significant milestone in how we approach fitness in the digital age. The joining of MR and volumetric capture resulted in a novel experience that is not only effective, but playful.
Once you try it, it’s an experience that sticks with you.
As Meta’s launch announcement details, this collaboration marks an important step in making fitness more accessible, engaging, and tailored to individual needs. Rather than replacing other forms of learning, this platform paves a new path for students of yoga, pilates, and meditation to access wellness education.
We’re proud to be part of this world-first project and look forward to seeing how it will transform the way people deepen their movement practices!
Read more on Meta, Alo Moves, Magnopus, Tech Radar, CNET, & VentureBeat
Download the app on the Meta Store 🧘🏾♂️🤸🏽🪷🧿🍃
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