A new armband product called Valkyrie EIR aims to bring resistance to virtual reality fitness through electrical muscle stimulation. Attached to the biceps and triceps of each arm, the armbands transmit electrical signals equivalent to up to 4 kilograms (approximately 9 lbs), providing a physical boost when the user completes a virtual workout. You can feel the burn.
London-based Valkyrie Industries announced today that it is now accepting pre-orders for the Valkyrie EIR. That price is $125 for his two armband set, which will start shipping in summer 2023. The armband connects to Valkyrie’s new EIR Training app, available at Meta’s App Lab. Wearing a Meta’s Quest or Quest 2 headset, users can immerse themselves in virtual worlds, participate in trainer-led workouts, and see their avatar using virtual exercise equipment such as cables, rubber bands, dumbbells, punching bags, and more. can be operated. The digital item is weightless, but resistance is felt when you wear Valkyrie’s muscle-stimulating armband to complete the move.
Ivan Isakov, co-founder and CTO of Valkyrie Industries, said: “Our electrical muscle stimulator [armbands] Wirelessly connected to the headset. ”
Users can control armband settings to adjust the intensity, frequency, and pulse width of electrical muscle stimulation (EMS). Valkyrie’s products are currently only accessible on Meta’s headsets, but the company plans to add compatibility with other devices, including the Pico headset owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance. Meta recently announced plans to sell its first virtual reality fitness accessory bundle, as well as its new $1,500 Quest Pro headset.
“The new meta-style device is even thinner. The Quest 2 was pretty big before, but [Quest Pro] There are certain types of lenses that are smaller and more ergonomic. So we’re really looking forward to it,” says Isakov. “[Quest Pro] Augmented reality also has some pass-through filters, which is also amazing. If you can use your device with augmented reality glasses, that’s also great. You can even manipulate this heavy virtual object in your own room. ”
Existing major apps in the virtual reality fitness space include FitXR and Supernatural, which Meta agreed to buy last year, but the deal is now being challenged by the FTC, saying, “Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg [an] An illegal takeover to expand your virtual reality empire. Meta’s Quest headsets currently account for approximately 90% of sales in the US virtual reality hardware market. Isakov hopes Valkyrie’s EMS armband will be adopted by other developers of his VR fitness apps.
“We are releasing SDK [software development kit] Along with the hardware, we started talking to VR fitness developers to make it available for other developers to use in their applications,” says Isakov. “FitXR, Supernatural, they’ve been doing some great workouts already, and incorporating muscle stimulation into their workouts would be great for them and amazing exposure for us.”
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