In a 2022 report on VR fitness, The Washington Post cites a Forrester study that says 25 percent of American adults online are interested in buying a VR headset and 18 percent believe they would use it primarily for exercising. VR fitness is a growing area, and Meta has rolled out a few new health-related features for its Quest headset that might convince even more people to try it. The company has rolled out in its latest update for the device Health Connect integration for android users and as The edge reports the ability to pair Bluetooth heart rate monitors with it.
A Meta spokesperson told the publication that when paired with a compatible heart rate monitor, the Meta Quest Move overlay can display a user’s heart rate in any game or app alongside exercise minutes and calories burned. At the moment the only known compatible monitors are the Garmin HRM-Dual and the Polar H10 chest strap, but other brands and models (even smartwatches) may be able to pair with the headset. Meta just can’t confirm if they work as intended with the quest.
Meanwhile, the Health Connect integration will give users the ability to automatically sync VR workouts to their Android device. Meta first made people’s VR fitness stats visible outside of their headsets last year when it gave iOS users the ability to sync their progress to Apple Health. Now Android users can finally see their progress without having to set up the quest.
