Despite their unquestionable convenience, at-home workouts have their limits. You don’t get direct access to the instructor or practice alongside your fellow students. And you definitely don’t get the intangible “vibe” of the third space so many of us crave. By entering the new frontier of virtual reality, companies are trying to create an entirely new way to exercise in your own space, one that doesn’t leave you missing an in-class experience. That, instead, creates an entirely new vision of what at-home movement can look and feel like.
With the launch of its app on the Meta Quest 3, Alo Yoga has made a giant bet on the world of mixed reality—the word for the combination of the physical and virtual worlds that exist inside these headsets. The Alo Moves app delivers virtual instructors straight into your living room so you can complete five- to 30-minute classes, including yoga, Pilates, or meditations—that feel more immersive than your typical at-home workout class. Imagine a hologram of your favorite yoga instructor where your coffee table should be, a backdrop of an ocean paradise right behind them. This may sound like something straight out of a science fiction movie, but it’s very real and launched on the VR headset on Oct. 10.
