Hey Siri: Where are the Fitness apps for Apple Vision Pro?
The Apple Vision Pro seems to be made for fitness apps. However, there is no sign of exercise-intensive apps yet. But there is hope.
It is said to be lighter, more compact and more comfortable than any other mobile VR/AR headset on the market. This makes Apple's new headset a perfect fit for fitness applications. However, the company does not seem to be focusing on sports apps for the Apple Vision Pro so far. However, a small detail might indicate that there will be exercise-intensive apps after all.
Despite the best conditions: No Sports with the Apple Headset
During the announcement of the Apple Vision Pro at this year's WWDC keynote, Apple showed a whole range of interesting applications. An AR work environment that could make monitors obsolete in the future. Spatial Facetime calls. Entertainment with Disney Plus, customizable immersive environments and a virtual movie screen. The AR/VR headset can even play and record spatial video.
What Apple has yet to show are the immersive games often cited as the easiest selling point for a VR/AR-headset. The topic of VR fitness – or mixed reality fitness in this case – would actually be tailor-made for the Apple Vision Pro.
It is portable, lightweight, compact, and modularly adaptable. The perfect fit for every head should be a given. In addition, the VR/AR headset (hopefully) offers precise hand tracking. Clumsy VR controllers that slip out of sweaty hands would not be an issue.
Perfect pairing with Apple Watch & Apple Health
In addition, the Apple Watch is a powerful fitness and health tracker that would be perfect for combining with such apps. Training data from the VR/AR headset could easily be synced with Apple Health. This is already possible on the Meta Quest 2 with Oculus Move.
So, the requirements are there, the use case is easy to explain, and it would certainly find a wide audience. For example, fitness apps are very popular on the Meta Quest 2. I tested how effective the workouts are in a VR fitness self-experiment. Spoiler: they work.
Is an overhead strap coming to the Apple Vision Pro?
But there is hope for XR fitness fans like me. Since the headset will be modular, certain components like the headband can be swapped out or upgraded. Apple blogger Benjamin Mayo spotted a little detail during the presentation.
So presenter phrasing said "starting at" $3499. The band has an 'M' inscribed in the fabric, suggesting multiple sizes, and at one point in the keynote you can see a variant with an over-the-header strap too. Add in prescription lenses and who knows how much you'll be spending. pic.twitter.com/HkTBhw0ILg
— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) June 5, 2023
“The band has an 'M' inscribed in the fabric, suggesting multiple sizes, and at one point in the keynote you can see a variant with an over-the-header strap too.” Mayo writes. Such a headband across the skull could further improve the grip of the VR/AR headset – and what would you need that for if not for motion-intensive fitness apps?
The next few months will tell us if we'll be sweating our way through FitXR or Les Mills Bodycombat with an Apple headset. The Apple Vision Pro is expected to be released early next year. Initially only in the USA, later in other countries. Until then, there will certainly be one or two app announcements.
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