There are plenty of virtual reality (VR) titles that claim to be good for your fitness, getting you moving and sweating. But for those who want to take exercise a little more seriously and track various stats including metrics like calories burnt, that’s where things get a little more difficult. Which is where VR fitness company YUR comes in, having recently raised $1.1 million USD.
VRFocus first came across YUR when rhythm action videogame Synth Riders added native YUR.FIT integration several months ago. This week has seen a double announcement from YUR, not only the $1.1 million in pre-seed funding led by The Venture Reality Fund and BoostVC but also the beta release of the YUR app for Oculus Quest via Sidequest.
Created by Cix Liv and Dilan Shah, YUR uses patent-pending calorie tracking software to encourage a healthy lifestyle, installed directly onto headsets. YUR has also created a beta mobile companion app so users have the ability to track their activities while outside of VR, syncing to Apple Health and Google Fit.
“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, in a statement. “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 has an impressive founding team with strong roots in VR, gaming, and app development. We’ve already seen how the fitness community has come together during YUR’s beta phase, and we’re excited about the future of the company in this growing market,” adds Marco DeMiroz, Co-founder & General Partner of The Venture Reality Fund.
The YUR.fit app for Oculus Quest can essentially turn any videogame on the headset into a fitness experience, tracking the calories on any app. Ideally, YUR will be used in titles such as Beat Saber which are highly energetic but lack that additional fitness information. For those wishing to use VR apps to burn calories titles like BoxVR are already available, while new ones such as Viro Move will soon be arriving. For more updates on VR fitness, keep reading VRFocus.