With a focus on fitness, a recently established virtual reality business hopes to provide both a glove and a headgear. Vi, by VR fitness entrepreneur Cix Liv, revealed that it is developing a glove. The Vi XR gloves can be worn while working out and would allow users to count sets and keep records of barbell weights automatically.
The Vi XR Gloves
The business isn’t releasing many details about the Vi XR gloves just yet. A sample video from the company indicates that it’s still in the early phases of prototyping.
Resistance training is the intended use for the Vi XR gloves. It has an IMU device with an accelerometer and gyroscope, which notes the number of repetitions. The gloves also have a pressure sensor that measures the weight of the dumbbell one uses. The company aims to track kettlebells, pushups, resistance bands, dumbbells, pull-ups, barbells, and other equipment. It will communicate over Bluetooth with Apple Vision Pro. They are investigating the possibility of Quest support. However, Meta’s lockdown of the Bluetooth stack may make it impractical.
According to Eugene Nadyrshin, product designer, the controller will employ hand-tracking models for sensor fusion. Additionally, it will have a Linear Resonant Actuator (LRA) located at the back of the hand that provides vibrotactile feedback. While the team isn’t committing in any way to OpenXR, Nadyrshin added that they are looking into it.
Other than the Vi XR gloves, the company intends to alter things with its own solo XR headset as well. It is a concept that a growing number of applications are essentially capitalizing on.
XR Headset
It will be built on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 reference design headset to achieve a balanced and lean look. Further, the device will have a tiny battery in the back strap and a non-lenticular front display. They want it to last between 60 and 90 minutes on a single charge, sufficing for a regular workout session. According to the company, the headset shouldn’t be anticipated until late 2025 or early 2026.
The headset will automatically log into Vi’s fitness service, the only app it will support initially. Vi intends to sell the gear for cost and earn revenue from a subscription to the service.
According to Liv’s posts on X, the Vi XR gloves and headset will be shipped all over the globe. They will offer the headgear for free with a content subscription. Eventually, they’ll also turn on the headset’s cameras.
Past And Future Endeavours By The Company
XR entrepreneur Cix Liv also co-founded the VR fitness tracker YUR and the VR livestreaming tool LIV, other than Vi. Since 2022, Liv has been developing a mixed-reality sports game named REK. However, he shelved the project last year, citing concerns about wearing headgear outside, in addition to minimal viewer engagement.
The company allows content creators to film themselves while playing virtual reality games. It is a shift from an earlier concept for AR software. The prior plan for AR involved automatic pricing of house items for online sales using computer vision. Following that course, they are developing a mixed reality headgear along with the Vi XR gloves, specifically for fitness.
