Tye Sheridan in Ready Player One. Credit to: Warner Bros.

The anticipated movie, Ready Player One, is directed by Steven Spielberg and is based on the 2011 novel by Ernest Cline, where the storyline takes place inside a world that relies on the VR metaverse and multiplayer games to block out but also compete in a dystopian society. Both the novel and film depict VR in an ideal state and how physically intensive it can be before anyone fully realized it. We found parallels between Ready Player One and VR as it is in our current reality. Follow us on a journey toward Ready Player One-ing your life with fitness and VR.

Virtual Fitness

The novel that started it all. Credit to: Ernest Cline and Random House

It’s no surprise that moving around and exercising in VR with a room scale setup as you swing swords, shoot, or punch other players and AI in the face can really work up a sweat.

Much like real life, the novel Ready Player One has a chapter called “The Gym” where the main character Wade Watts goes over his VR rig and training routine, “I pulled on my visor and loaded up the Gym, a stand-alone simulation. Now I was standing in a large modern fitness center lined with exercise equipment and weight machines, all of which could be perfectly simulated by my haptic suit. I began my daily workout. Sit-ups, stomach crunches, push-ups, aerobics, weight training.”

VR Rigs

As a player in the VR ecosystem known as OASIS, Wade and his teammates compete on a leaderboard and go on a search to find keys that will lead them to an Easter egg or a hidden treasure in the virtual simulator. Much like the players gaming their way through OASIS, VR users rely on the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PSVR, Windows Mixed Reality, and other headset rigs to step inside their own versions of the metaverse and become stronger and fitter versions of themselves. Many VR owners become so active in challenging VR games that they’ve seen results in weight loss, pain reduction, and an overall improvement in their life.

VR Fitness Tech

Credit to: Black Box VR

Stepping into futuristic fitness tech that’s also compatible with VR used to be limited to the headset. The award-winning fitness experts at Black Box VR are disrupting the gaming and fitness industries with their VR compatible cable resistance workout experience. Once inside the Black Box, fit gamers or aspiring fit gamers, use the smart cable resistance system as they play games that make working out competitive, fun, and engaging. Transforming and leveling up your body inside the Black Box doesn’t feel like work, it feels like an action and combat game that you so happened to get ripped in.

Haptic Sensations

Credit to: Tesla Studios

Ready Player One competitors use haptic suits that vibrate and send sensory signals to the players as they interact with games in the metaverse. Companies like Hardlight VR are currently developing a haptic vest that simulates impact forces in-game, Teslasuit is creating a super cool neck to ankles haptic suit that simulates impact, heat, and cold as players game in VR, while VR glove companies like VRFree and Manus VR are leading the way for hand haptics and game controls.

Active Game Titles

Challenge yourself and compete against other players as a team in Echo Arena! Credit to: Ready At Dawn

If you want a taste of what it might be like to compete like the players in RPO, there are multiplayer games like Sparc, Racket NX, Echo Arena, and Protonwar that will have you vying for leaderboard status as you elevate your heart rate. What makes these games so effective for fitness are the active movements that are required to play.

Sparc and Racket NX each use arm conditioning, coordination and room scale, as Echo Arena and Protonwar both use upper body strength but can also be played sitting or standing. Each of these games has a futuristic aesthetic to them which will make your journey to Ready Player One status more immersive and competitive, except without all the 80’s references.

Ready Player You

Credit to: Warner Bros.

As a fictional book that’s been turned into an anticipated movie, Ready Player One, is quickly becoming art reflecting life or the other way around. In what was once untapped tech, the virtual reality, fitness, and gaming industries are making great strides to become an actualized version of Ready Player One. Step into the metaverse today and get started on your VR fitness journey!

Step into the world of fictional VR in it’s most epic state, the cinematic release of Ready Player One! It hits movie theaters this Thursday, March 29th, 2018!