Frequently Asked Questions
Here are the answers to some of the most asked questions. If you can’t find the answer you are looking for, feel free to join our Discord server and chat with us there.
PowerBeatsVR Specific
Gameplay
- How can I learn more about the items and weapons?
- What is a score? What is a combo?
- What are the activity and strength bonus I get at the end of the song?
- What are ratings? What does “Flawless Victory” mean?
- What are experience levels?
- How do I get to the next experience level?
- How do I get new weapons?
- What do “Endurance” and “Endless” mean in the Playlist window?
- I want to see the strength with that I hit the targets. Is there some kind of strength display?
In-Game Issues
- I hit things, but my hits don’t register / I experience lags!
- I can’t, or don’t want to duck/jump left/right – can I remove the walls?
- I am short or tall – can I configure the workouts for my height?
- How do I get the maximally exhausting workout?
- The angle of my in-game hands/weapons feels awkward – can I change it?
- I always get hit by obstacles!
- Some elements are too far to the side / too high to reach!
- The balls come at me in a curved path! I don’t know when to hit them!
- Some balls don’t shatter / I don’t get full points?
- The game keeps telling me to “move forward” or “move back”, what should I do?
- I can’t find the screenshots I take in the game
Generator and Local Songs
- How can I play my own songs with PowerBeatsVR?
- I don’t see my songs in the LOCAL tab!
- What do the sliders in the Generator settings do?
- I deselected squats or dodges in the generation settings, but I still get walls which I need to squat under/dodge!
- The generator can’t find any beats in my local song. What can I do?
- How can I import community-made maps?
- Can I use Beat Saber maps with PowerBeatsVR?
- Where can I download music for free that I can use in-game?
CUSTOM SKYBOXES
Other Things
- What are the “official songs” in the game?
- The music or sounds are too loud, how can I adjust the volume?
- I don’t like the voice. Can I deactivate or change it?
- PC/Steam Only: My highscores are gone (and I played during Early Access)!
- When I start the game, a window on my PC comes up, but I can’t do anything!
- I’m asked to move outside of my playspace / How much space do I need?
- My playspace is facing the wrong way!
- Where can I see the features people are requesting and upvote them or request additional features?
SPECIFIC TO META QUEST (FORMERLY OCULUS Quest)
- Can I play this on the Quest 1 / Quest 2?
- Is there a native Meta Quest version? If so, do you support “cross-buy”?
- How do I import custom music on the Quest?
- How do I copy custom layouts from PC to Quest?
- Why can’t I see audio files that I’ve copied to my Quest on my secondary/third account, and what can I do?
- How does PowerBeatsVR compare other VR fitness apps like Supernatural or FitXR?
PowerBeatsVR Specific
GAMEPLAY
How can I learn more about the items and weapons?
In the menu, select the “GUIDE” button to the left of the gameplay panel. There you will find a lot of information about all objects, weapons, and game features.
What is a score? What is a combo?
For every ball you hit in the game, you get points which accumulate to a score. Each ball earns you points if hit properly, that is with the minimum amount of strength required. Harder hits (i.e. increased speeds) will earn you more points per ball. The amount of strength required depends on the selected difficulty. Collecting streams will also earn you points per beat.
You will lose points if you get hit by walls or ball obstacles. You can get hit at both the hands and the head.
If you hit balls or streams consecutively, you will build up a combo, that is, a count of consecutive hits. The combo will get added (as its quadratic gauss sum) to your score at the end of the song. When you run into an obstacle, the combo will get added right away, and start again from zero.
What are the activity and strength bonus I get at the end of the song?
At the end of each song, you will be granted an activity bonus based on the amount of movement you make. Similarly, the harder you hit the higher your strength bonus will be.
What are ratings? What does “Flawless Victory” mean?
At the end of the song, you’ll get a rating for your performance in the song. The rating is based on the percentage of balls you hit, the percentage of streams you followed (if any), and the percentage of obstacles you managed to avoid. This will yield one of 10 possible ratings between F and A++.
What are experience levels?
During gameplay you’ll receive points for hitting balls and collecting streams, which will accumulate to form the score you’ll get for a song. Your scores, in turn, will accumulate to form your experience level which ranges from 0 to 99.
The first 4 levels unlock new weapons, and are enabling:
000k: Fist! For Free!
200k: Unlock Hammer
500k: Unlock Shield
900k: Unlock PowerFist
Additional experience levels will follow in the same vein.
How do I get to the next experience level?
Experience levels are based on the score you receive while playing. So, keep playing songs and you will earn your next experience level eventually.
How do I get new weapons?
Weapons are locked to experience levels. You gain new experience points by playing. Thus, just keep playing to unlock new weapons. Here is the list of experience you require to unlock new weapons:
200k: Unlock Hammer
500k: Unlock Shield
900k: Unlock PowerFist
What do “Endurance” and “Endless” mean in the Playlist window?
“Endurance” mode takes out the gap between songs in a playlist (disabling the info screen), thus testing your endurance. “Endless” mode means that the playlist will repeat from the beginning after it has finished playing.
I want to see the strength with that I hit the targets. Is there some kind of strength display?
PowerBeatsVR has a live strength meter, that can show you the strength of your last hit, average strength, and max strength for each hand separately. You can activate it in OPTIONS/FITNESS.
IN-GAME ISSUES
I hit things, but my hits don’t register / I experience lags!
PowerBeatsVR is a fast-paced game which is synced to the music. As such, it requires particularly good VR tracking quality.
Thus, please make sure that your VR tracking setup is the best it can be. A loss of tracking, even if only for milliseconds, can lead to lags in the game or controller drift which makes you miss hits. Follow your individual VR hardware guides to set up the best possible tracking, which usually involves proper distances (for external tracking) good lighting, no reflective surfaces, fresh controller batteries, and the VR software reporting good tracking (if there is a status).
On PC, you also need to make sure your PC follows the minimum requirements. As usual, a better CPU and GPU are, well, better. Depending on your hardware, you may want to tweak the graphical fidelity of the game. Go to the options of the game (menu left-hand side), select VIDEO, and set “Spectator Camera” to “OFF”. Then, reduce Quality Settings to the next lower setting, and keep reducing until the issue is gone.
I can’t, or don’t want to duck/jump left/right – can I remove the walls?
Yes! Please go to OPTIONS>GAME and select “No vertical walls”, “No horizontal walls”, or both.
I am short or tall – can I configure the workouts for my height?
Yes! You can configure all workouts to your personal height – from 1 meter (3’3”) to 2.2 meters (7’3”). Go to OPTIONS>GAME to configure (or measure) your height.
How do I get the maximally exhausting workout?
Select a maximum player height, maximum playspace width (if you have the space), the 100% power balls modifier, the small balls modifier, and superspeed. Create a playlist with fast songs and use the endurance mode. Play only Expert difficulty songs. Good luck.
The angle of my in-game hands/weapons feels awkward – can I change it?
Yes. Please go to OPTIONS>GAME, scroll down, and select the “Adjust” button next to “Controller Alignment”. Follow the instructions, which means holding down the specified button and moving your hands, such that the alignment matches what you are expecting. Don’t worry, you can always click “Reset” if it doesn’t work out.
I always get hit by obstacles!
PowerBeatsVR is different from other games in that both the head and the hands collide with obstacles. Thus, make sure you avoid obstacles with your entire body (yes, this includes squatting in many cases).
Some elements are too far to the side / too high to reach!
Go to the options of the game (menu left-hand side), select GAME, and change playspace width and player height to your liking. If you want to change the playspace width yourself, make sure to deactivate the “AUTO” checkbox.
To auto-measure your height, stand up straight and select the “MEASURE” button.
The balls come at me in a curved path! I don’t know when to hit them!
You can choose between curved and straight paths in the options. Go to OPTIONS on the left-hand side, select the GAME tab, and scroll down to the bottom to select the right path type for you.
Some balls don’t shatter / I don’t get full points?
PowerBeatsVR features two different types of balls: “Normal” and “Power” Balls. Power Balls require a larger hit speed than normal balls, that is, you need to hit them harder to ensure that they get destroyed at all and (depending on the difficulty level) you get full points.
The game keeps telling me to “move forward” or “move back”, what should I do?
If the game tells you to “move forward” or “move back”, it means that you are not standing in the center of your playspace. When you are standing too far forward or backward the balls coming at you will reach you too early or too late regarding the beat of the music. Since you don’t always want to look at the marker on the floor to ensure you are standing right we implemented this warning.
If the warning bothers you, you can go to the GAME tab and adjust the tolerance before you will get the warning, or turn it off completely.
I can’t find the screenshots I take in the game
The screenshots will be placed as files in a specific folder which depends on your platform.
- On Windows / PC (Steam, Viveport, Rift)
- Folder: Windows Pictures Folder -> PowerBeatsVR subfolder
- Folder: Windows Pictures Folder -> PowerBeatsVR subfolder
- Oculus Quest:
- Folder: /Android/data/com.FiveMindCreationsUGhaftungsbeschrnkt.PowerBeatsVR/files
- Can be moved via USB or opened in an image editor in the Quest itself.
GENERATOR AND LOCAL SONGS
How can I play my own songs with PowerBeatsVR?
PowerBeatsVR can auto-generate workouts for all the songs in .mp3, .wav, .flac, and .ogg format on your device. After starting the game, switch to the LOCAL tab in the main window (next to VOLUME 1 and VOLUME 2 of our official songs).
Then, simply navigate to the folder on your device where your music is stored and select a file. When attempting to play it, PowerBeatsVR will ask you for some input regarding generation, and launch your own music with a special workout for you!
I don’t see my songs in the LOCAL tab!
PowerBeatsVR supports songs in .mp3, .flac, .wav, and .ogg. Only songs which are in this format will show up in the LOCAL tab. Please make sure your songs are in one of these formats.
If your songs are in a different format, you might want to convert it. A good open source program for this is Audacity, which is a complete audio editor for PC, which also allows opening and exporting multiple formats such as the above. It’s recommended to use the .mp3 format, which can be exported from Audacity using File > Export.
What do the sliders in the Generator settings do?
The Generator options dialog gives you the ability to configure the types of “Patterns” the Generator will consider when creating your workout, and the relative frequency of those patterns.
A “pattern” refers to a certain sort of movement. Six patterns are currently available; the first three are simple or basic (those are the only ones available in “Beginner” difficulty), while the second three are more complex or compound patterns.
This pattern generates single or double balls per beat which you are supposed to hit with your fists. Depending on the difficulty, those will be harder to hit / come in the “steel” version.
Generates singular walls for you to avoid, without any added difficulty like balls to the side.
Generates streams for collecting points by holding your hands into the stream. Depending on the difficulty, the streams will spread further out, sideways and vertically.
SQUATS
The Squats pattern creates combinations of patterns in which you are required to duck under walls and then stand up again to hit balls or swings; also, bad balls might be included. The complexity of the squats and elements placed between or under walls increases with the the chosen difficulty.
I deselected squats or dodges in the generation settings, but I still get walls which I need to squat under/dodge!
The generator generates walls both for the simple “Squat & Dodge” pattern as well as for the complex “Squats” and “Dodge” patterns, so you’ll need to disable both of them.
If you want to keep the generated elements from “Squats” and “Dodges” but only remove the walls, please add the “No walls” modifiers in the settings.
The generator can’t find any beats in my local song. What can I do?
The beat detection works best for beat-heavy music and struggles when the music does not have a beat. However, if you want to generate music for a track for which beats can’t be detected automatically, you can still set up the BPM count yourself as well as the offset.
You can either use the metronome in the Generator settings menu to get it right or you can try a beat detection website, such as https://www.conversion-tool.com/bpmdetector/ or https://getsongbpm.com/tools/audio.
How can I import community-made maps?
PowerBeatsVR saves song layouts in a .json file with the file name being the same as the original music file it was created for, for example “Duran Duran – Ordinary World.json”. These files are located in a specific folder depending on the platform you are playing on, and can be used for sharing maps with others.
Here is a tutorial for more information, the exact location of those files, and how to import them.
Can I use Beat Saber maps with PowerBeatsVR?
PowerBeatsVR does not have such a function.
However, one of our users has created an online converter for making Beat Saber maps compatible with PowerBeatsVR. You can find it besides some more information here: https://powerbeatsvr.gnethomelinux.com/
And here is his GitHub directory for those who are interested: https://github.com/guysoft/PowerBeatsVR_song_writer/releases/tag/0.2.0
Disclaimer: We have no control over the nature, content, and availability of those sites, and are not affiliated with those sites in any way.
Where can I download music for free that I can use in-game?
There are several websites that offer free music downloads from amazing artists. All the downloads are legal for personal use.
Here are our top 4 places to find free music:
If you are playing with the Oculus Quest, you can download those files with the Oculus Browser.
In-Game EDITOR
How can I build my own workouts?
The in-game editor has two different modes:
- The most convenient mode is the new Live Recorder. You basically move and box to the music and the editor builds the layout accordingly. With that mode, you can create workouts within the time of the chosen song itself.
- The second mode is the manual mode, where you can place objects one by one exactly at the beat and position you want. This mode is great for correcting existing layouts, or for creating special movement patterns, and allows maximum precision.
You can find more about the editor and its features here: www.powerbeatsvr.com/vr-fitness-game/level-editor/
Is there a tutorial for the editor?
We have a tutorial for the in-game editor, that explains all the functions and buttons and how you can access them. This tutorial also covers how to export and import custom maps.
You can find that tutorial here: www.powerbeatsvr.com/vr-fitness-game/level-editor/
CUSTOM SKYBOXES / ENVIRONMENTS
How can I use my own skyboxes / environments?
PowerBeatsVR supports the use of custom skyboxes, which means you can load in any 360° panorama / photosphere to play to. We provide 8 beautiful built-in skyboxes for your use as well.
You can find more information here: www.powerbeatsvr.com/custom-environments
HEART RATE MONITORS
Which heart rate monitors are supported by PowerBeatsVR?
PowerBeatsVR supports* standard Bluetooth (BLE) and ANT+ HRMs.
(*except on the Oculus Quest platform).
Click here to read more about supported heart rate monitors and how to connect them.
The Bluetooth/ANT+ connection to the PC is unreliable!
Connections between Bluetooth and ANT+ devices and PC dongles are notoriously fickle and affected by many factors outside of our influence. If you run into problems and it worked before, try re-starting the game, unplugging your dongle, or rebooting the PC.
In general, there are multiple problems that can influence your wireless signal. Keep in mind that WiFi, Bluetooth, ANT+, DECT, etc. all transmit in the same frequency range, so the more devices there are around transmitting, the higher the risk to run into communication problems.
Your VR controllers usually communicate via Bluetooth as well.
Things like moving the Bluetooth / ANT+ receiver (dongle) from the back to the front of the PC housing often does wonders. In general, having the wireless connection as short and as direct as possible improves reception significantly.
Even in some extreme cases putting the dongle on a usb extension cable and moving it close to the player could establish a connection.
Also, don’t connect to your HRM device from Windows, but connect to it directly from inside the game to ensure best results.
Why ist there no Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) support for native Oculus Quest?
Bluetooth: Due to security reasons Oculus in general does not grant bluetooth permisions for external devices, so even though bluetooth HRMs connect and work fine in our development builds, we can not activate these in the release versions.
We are working on a solution that will allow us to activate bluetooth usage for this usecase, but for the time being we can not.
ANT+: The quest doesn’t have the necessary hardware integrated for ANT+ communication, so there is no possibility to use ANT+ HRMs.
OTHER THINGS
What are the “official songs” in the game?
The “official” songs come preinstalled with PowerBeatsVR in two volumes (1 & 2). Note that you can auto-generate layouts for any arbitrary songs on your computer as well (supported formats: mp3, ogg, flac, and wav).
We owe big thanks to these amazing artists for their great music tracks! Make sure you check out their other works! Links are included for all artists.
Volume 1 (released April 2019)
A Dark Angel
by Yan Terrien
CC-BY-SA 4.0
Length adjusted for better gameplay integration
Art Now
by Alex Berosa
CC-BY 3.0
Beast but not least!
by XTaKeRuX
CC-BY 4.0
Shayla – Calling For You
by SK
CC-BY 4.0
Demigods
by Mike Chino Beats
CC BY-SA 3.0
Galaxies
by Jeans East (feat. Diandra Faye)
CC-BY 4.0
I Won’t Fall In Love
by Jeans East (feat. MaryLinn)
CC-BY 4.0
Nightrise
by Jeans East
CC-BY 4.0
Ouroboros
by Kevin MacLeod
CC-BY 3.0
Rock Thing
by Creo
CC-BY 4.0
The Whole Ten
by Ozzy Jock
CC-BY 4.0
Wide Awake
by Broken Elegance
CC-BY 4.0
Length adjusted for better gameplay integration
Volume 2 (released November 2020)
by Extan (feat. Farisha)
by AShamaluevMusic
CC-BY 4.0
The music or sounds are too loud, how can I adjust the volume?
In the Options menu in the Sound tab there are sliders to adjust the volume of music and effects, as well as further options regarding the motivation voice, hit sounds etc..
I don’t like the voice. Can I deactivate or change it?
You can either switch to a female motivating voice or you can completely deactivate the voice in OPTIONS/SOUND/.
PC/Steam: My highscores are gone (and I played during Early Access)!
During EA, we had different highscore lists depending on your playspace width and your player height. We have now consolidated these lists to only one size. If you played during EA on a small playspace size and playspace width, you can choose to migrate this data to the new highscores. Go to OPTIONS > GAME and scroll down to the bottom. Press “Start” for EA Highscore Migration.
Note that this can take quite a while, depending on the Steam server availability. In some cases, Steam does not accept new leaderboard scores without providing an error, which means your scores won’t show up after the process. In that case, please try again the next day.
When I start the game, a window on my PC comes up, but I can’t do anything!
If you are running the game from within Steam or Viveport, make sure you have installed SteamVR, and it is active.
I’m asked to move outside of my playspace / How much space do I need?
PowerBeatsVR respects your playspace and queries the width you configured in your VR settings on each startup. All objects in the game (balls, walls, streams) are then and placed within that width.
You can hand-configure the width you want in the game options: Deselect the [AUTO] checkbox next to “Playspace width” and move the slide between 2 and 3 meters, depending on the size of your playspace.
CAUTION: The minimum playspace for PowerBeatsVR is 2 meters by 1.5 meters (6’6” x 4’11”), which is also the minimum recommended size for all room scale VR entertainment. Thus, please ensure that you have this amount of space available when playing PowerBeatsVR.
Note: On some platforms, you may need to rotate the game by 90° (which can also be done in the settings) if the width and depth of the playspace seem inverted.
My playspace is facing the wrong way!
Go to the options of the game (menu left-hand side), select GAME and rotate the playspace to your liking.
Where can I see the features people are requesting and upvote them or request additional features?
You can find the features that have already been requested by our users on our Feedback Board. There you can also vote for the ones you like.
In case you want to add an idea or express a wish, feel free to post your suggestion in our Discord. Thanks!
SPECIFIC TO OCULUS QUEST
Can I play this on the Quest 1 / Quest 2?
The answer for both is “Yes”.
We have released a native Quest version on October 20, 2021, on Oculus Quest App Lab: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/4336749139724039/
You can install it either by simply visiting the link above and purchasing it there or typing “PowerBeatsVR” into the search bar of your Oculus Quest. That’s it.
By the way, if you do have a gaming-ready PC and Oculus Link cable, you can also play the game by connecting it to the PC and either starting the Oculus version of PowerBeatsVR or going through SteamVR.
You can also play wireless with only little effort via Air Link, Virtual Desktop and Sidequest, depending on your setup.
We dedicated a whole page specificaly to all the possible ways to play PowerBeatsVR on a Quest. Take a look here!.
Is there a native Oculus Quest version? If so, do you support “cross-buy”?
There is a native Oculus Quest (soon-to-be Meta Quest) version on Oculus Quest App Lab since Oct 20, 2021: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/4336749139724039/
Why “only” App Lab? We decided to go for App Lab first, as we don’t want to let you wait any longer. However, we are still working on getting into the “official” store (which is a different process and which will take longer, hopefully sometime in 2022).
“Cross-buy” refers to an Oculus feature in which you can play the Rift and Quest versions of the same game while only buying it once. Unfortunately, cross-buy is only possible between games in the official Oculus stores (Rift+Quest); not between App Lab games and Rift games. Thus, cross-buy for PowerBeatsVR will only be available once the Quest version of the game is available in the “official” Oculus store. There is nothing we (the developers of PowerBeatsVR) can do from our end to change this, it is a restriction imposed by Oculus.
Note also that cross-buy is strictly limited to Oculus stores, which means that there is no way for us to support cross-buy between the Quest store and other stores such as Steam, Microsoft, or Viveport. Again, there is nothing we (the developers of PowerBeatsVR) can do to change this.
How do I import custom music on the Quest?
As on PC, the game on Quest is able to open local music files (MP3, FLAC, OGG, and WAV). These files need to be placed on the Quest device first to be openable. Thus, you need to connect your Quest via a basic USB cable to your PC (no Link/Air Link/Sideloading needed), and then just copy the music files over. It’s not important where you place them, because you can navigate the local file system from within PowerBeatsVR.
As a suggestion: We personally simply use the Music folder which is present in the root of the Quest file system.
You have no computer or laptop for transferring files? Well, you can use the Oculus browser to navigate to a website where you can download your music files. You could navigate to some cloud storage for instance, or you can visit a website that offers free music downloads.
You want to transfer files via an Apple computer? By default, you won’t see the Quest storage when connecting it via USB. But there is a way to connect your Apple device to your Quest.
How do I copy custom layouts from PC to Quest?
A PowerBeatsVR song layout is a .json file whose file name is the name of the original music file it was created for, for example “Duran Duran – Ordinary World.json”. These files get placed into the Layouts/ directory within the PowerBeatsVR folder. For Steam, this folder resides in Steam/steamapps/common/PowerBeatsVR/PowerBeatsVR_Data/Layouts (Viveport/Oculus varies).
You can take any .json file in their and copy it over to the Quest; this needs to be done via USB as for custom music. The file needs to be placed in the Quest PowerBeatsVR layout directory, which is located at Android\data\com.FiveMindCreationsUGhaftungsbeschrnkt.PowerBeatsVR\files\Layouts\.
You also need the music file corresponding to the JSON file, which needs to have the exact same name (including lower and upper case) – before the file ending. For example, for the JSON file above, the file may be named “Duran Duran – Ordinary World.mp3”. Its not important where the Music file is placed, so it does not need to be in the Layouts directory (in fact, we recommend to place it somewhere else, for example in /Music).
Why can’t I see audio files that I’ve copied to my Quest on my secondary/third account, and what can I do?
Unfortunately, this is an inherent issue of the experimental Oculus multi-account feature: Every account has its own folder structure and can’t access folders or files of the other accounts. This means, that only the main account can see those files that you’ve copied to your Quest while being on the main account. But there is also another problem: You won’t see the Quest device when connecting it to your computer via USB cable while being on your secondary or third account. This makes it quite difficult to copy audio files to your additional accounts. We don’t know why Facebook has implemented those restrictions, but we’ve reported that issue and hope they will fix it soon.
However, there is a workaround that several Oculus users have suggested: You can use Google Drive or another cloud storage, upload your audio files there, and download them with your Oculus browser to your secondary/third account. That way, you can also access local music files with those additional accounts.
How does PowerBeatsVR compare to other VR fitness apps like Supernatural or FitXR?
Obviously, we are biased on this question, but here is what others have to say:
VR Fitness
Is VR a good cardio workout?
Yes, VR can be a great and(!) fun cardio workout. Metabolic testings of several institutes have shown, that working out in VR with the right game is even comparable to sports like rowing or tennis. With calorie burn rates of up to 13 kcal/min VR fitness is as effective as using stationary bikes, rowing machines, or treadmills in the gym, but way more fun.
Growing numbers of players report that they have lost several pounds within just a few weeks. This proves VR as an effective tool for weight loss and that getting fit with VR is indeed possible.
How much room do I need for VR fitness gaming?
Most VR fitness games, apart from PowerBeatsVR and some other rare titles, are still stationary and don’t require the player to move from his starting position. For a stationary game, a playspace of 5ft (1.5m) is the minimum requirement to avoid any contact with walls or furniture. However, having a playspace width of 10ft (3m) is ideal for the whole range of current VR fitness titles.
PowerBeatsVR, as an example, can be best played with a minimum playspace width of 6’6” (2m) but can use up to 3m of width, if the player provides enough space.
What is the proper form? And how do I avoid injuries?
In order to keep your shoulders healthy, it’s mandatory to stretch your body before your workouts, start slow, and keep proper form while boxing. This is also true for boxing in VR without resistance.
Below is a great video that shows you the correct movements and stance. It also shows some exercises to stabilize your shoulders and keep a muscular balance:
What equipment do I need, and how can I make the most out of my VR workouts?
Based on user feedback and our own experience, we’ve compiled a list of equipment that will make your VR workouts as comfortable, safe, and effective as possible. Visit our Recommended Gear page to see all that amazing gear.
VR in General
Why is VR so demanding?
VR requires consistent high framerates, as lower framerates and lags can induce motion sickness. In addition, two images (screens) have to be rendered at once, which results in a very high resolution that has to be rendered to make it look good.
Nowadays, tethered VR headsets at the lower end have a resolution of 1080×1200 pixels per eye at a refresh rate of 90Hz. Most WMR headsets already have 1440×1440 pixels. The Vive Index even requires the computer to render 1440×1600 pixels per eye at a refresh rate of 144Hz.
As a comparison, on a modern console, most games run at 1920×1080 at 30Hz. So, VR is up to 5 times more demanding, when only considering inherent display resolution and refresh rate.
What do you need for a VR setup?
VR gaming has considerably higher hardware requirements than conventional gaming. Here are the specs provided by Oculus and HTC:
Oculus Rift recommendations:
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better
CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X or better
Memory: 8GB+ RAM
OS: Windows 10
HTC Vive recommendations:
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD Radeon RX 480 or better
CPU: Intel i5-4590 / AMD FX 8350 or better
Memory: 4GB+ RAM
OS: Windows 10
Can you wear glasses with VR?
Whether your glasses fit into the VR headset, depends on their size and the headset you are using.
Smaller frames fit comfortably into most devices.
The VR headset with the least space for glasses is the Oculus Rift. Make sure that your frame is no wider than 142 mm with a height of less than 50 mm if you want to go with the Rift.
Before putting your headset on, also make sure that there is enough space between glasses and VR lenses. Otherwise, they may get scratched.
The HTC Vive is a bit more spacious than the Rift. There your frame can be as wide as 152 mm with a height of up to 60 mm. This headset also allows varying the distance from the lenses to your glasses.
So, before you buy a headset, measure your glasses to make sure they will fit.
