> Just buy a pair of shoes and go for a run. Buy a bike and go for a ride.
It depends where you live, sadly. In some places it can be downright dangerous to exercise outside.
> Why do they need to spend billion of dollars en VR
It's a very fresh market and early investors will dominate it. They're probably just trying everything, because even if most of these investments fail, the few that work out may have enormous ROI, I think.
> It depends where you live, sadly. In some places it can be downright dangerous to exercise outside.
Where is it so dangerous(or really bad weather) than you can go for a run or to any gym/club ? (and add to that you can still do burpees or jump rope in an appartment)
I don't think they are developing VR fitness for people living in the middle of Sahara desert or Himalaya.
Well, for example, climate-change-fueled wildfires have draped large areas of California and the western US in wildfire smoke for weeks on end, the last few years. Aside from that, large cities and suburbs can be smoggy, very hot, and extremely hostile to pedestrians, let alone runners. (This is true both in the US, and abroad—the pollution in many modern cities is unreal.)
I run all through the winter in New England, but I have empathy for people who don't like dealing with the cold and wet and the quite serious safety issues of ice and snow piled up everywhere. Even I generally try to avoid running in the rain just because it's unpleasant. As for clubs, there's the cost of a membership, limited hours, time/effort of getting to/from the place, poor aesthetics, the "ick" factor of shared equipment, contention for equipment, pandemic issues, self-consciousness, etc.
Also, many VR fitness apps are quite engaging and appealing in their own right. Supernatural in particular has nice scenery, music, a huge variety of challenge types and levels, dynamic full-body exercise, and a general game-like feel that many enjoy.
People have all sorts of concerns, strengths, and preferences. Dismissing or trivializing them with "just do what I find comfortable" is an attitude that practically never serves anyone - including the speaker - very well. In fact, any sentence beginning with "just" is a bit of a red flag.
Although this applies to VR too, I could not do burpees or jump rope in my apartment without angering numerous neighbors. This is probably more of an issue in a wooden building than one of stone or concrete.
If you cannot imagine where exercising outside is very hard in some parts of the world, watch some travel shows or something. There are many parts of Istanbul where density is so high and safe places to run are so sparse that indoors VR could be preferable for many if their living spaces can accommodate it.
It depends where you live, sadly. In some places it can be downright dangerous to exercise outside.
> Why do they need to spend billion of dollars en VR
It's a very fresh market and early investors will dominate it. They're probably just trying everything, because even if most of these investments fail, the few that work out may have enormous ROI, I think.