Beta Test: Supernatural wants you to sweat it out in the metaverse

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Within Unlimited, acquired by Meta

About Supernatural

One day after announcing that it would be rebranding as Meta, Facebook announced that it would acquire Within Unlimited, a virtual reality game developer known for Supernatural and based in Los Angeles, for an undisclosed amount.

It also dropped the Oculus brand from its virtual reality headset division, changing it to Meta Quest. Facebook bought Oculus back in 2014 for $2 billion.

Facebook's parent company is making a huge bet on the so-called metaverse, a somewhat amorphous concept that involves the blending of various offline and virtual worlds, though the idea has dystopian sci-fi origins. For Meta, it's all about virtual reality and commerce.

“We hope to basically get to around a billion people in the metaverse doing hundreds of dollars of commerce, each buying digital goods, digital content, different things to express themselves, so whether that’s clothing for their avatar or different digital goods for their virtual home or things to decorate their virtual conference room, utilities to be able to be more productive in virtual and augmented reality and across the metaverse overall,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg told CNBC's Jim Cramer in June.

A couple of years earlier, Facebook bought Beat Games for an undisclosed amount. The Czech Republic-based company developed one of the first hit virtual reality games, Beat Saber, which prompts users to strike oncoming objects with virtual sabers.

An Australian YouTuber called Naysy has racked up more than 4.8 million views on a video of herself swiping at objects to Doja Cat's song "Say So," which she posted in January 2020.

Anyone who grew up playing Dance Dance Revolution in the 2000s will instantly recognize the smash-the-objects-to-the-beat concept.

Supernatural's developer, Within, was founded in 2014 by CEO Chris Milk and President Aaron Koblin and it launched Supernatural in April 2020.

The company had raised more than $50 million through a Series B round that valued the company at $150 million before Facebook agreed to acquire it, according to PitchBook.

"Our partnership with Meta will [give us] more resources to expand and bring you even more music, more creative ways to work out, more features and more social experiences for VR," Milk wrote in a post announcing the acquisition.

I asked Leanne Pedante, Supernatural's head of fitness, what the company's plans were for evolving into the metaverse, and while she couldn't give me specifics, she told me that the company is working on building more social experiences. Could that include group workouts? Perhaps, but for now the experience is a solo one.

However, some users are already self-organizing "parties" to chat while they workout simultaneously, Pedante told me.

The workouts are designed around varying levels of intensity and complexity, while still prioritizing fun. A music team curates the auditory and visual experiences, pairing songs with the virtual environments where each workout is set in environments such as an active volcano or sweeping views of outer space. Another team consisting of experts in dance and gaming choreograph the targets users are prompted to hit or avoid.

Accessibility features also let users customize their experiences. For example, you could disable lower body movements like squats and lunges or even enlarge the virtual platform that appears under your feet.

On July 7, Zuckerberg announced that it would no longer require a Facebook account to sign up for the Quest platform. Instead, the company will allow users to create a separate Meta account beginning in August. The FTC is also investigating the deal between Meta and Supernatural's parent company on potential antitrust grounds, according to The Information.

Supernatural testing notes

The whole point of Supernatural is to get you to sweat, but the areas around my face that touched the headset got sweatier much more quickly than the rest of my body, even after just five minutes. It's a problem inherent to wearing a VR headset. To get a good seal around the eyes, the headset has to be snug. Despite that, the headset seemed to stay in place even as I ducked and bobbed.

Although lighter than previous versions, the Quest 2 is still a bit bulky and clocks in at close to 18 ounces, according to this thorough review from The Verge.

I tried two experiences: a basic workout "flow" and boxing. The graphics were sharp and immersive with 360-degree views of various virtual backdrops that included landscapes, ancient ruins, outer space and a volcano. That last one was a bit disorienting — even though I knew I wasn't really standing on the edge of an active volcano, it was a bit dizzying to see a cliff dropping off at my feet.

After doing a couple of introductory learning sessions to get accustomed to various movements that come up during the workouts, it felt relatively intuitive to follow along with the guided coaching during each experience. The goal was to strike or avoid floating objects as they hurtled towards me. Punching orbs, squatting to fit in a triangle and ducking to avoid overhead lines. And sometimes the direction that the objects flew at me shifted to the left or the right, forcing me to add some footwork into an otherwise upper body focused session.

Occasionally I missed a target and a virtual coach would remind me that it was OK and to just keep going.

The one thing I missed, though, was being able to check my form in a mirror. For others, that could be a plus. If you already have a Quest headset, it could be a fun way to get more active at home. It won't replace going to a gym IRL (aka in real life), lifting weights or taking a walk, though.

It also requires a high-speed internet connection. During my time trying out the app, the wi-fi disconnected for a bit, stalling the experience, but eventually it reconnected and I was able to complete the workouts.

Watch this video from a YouTuber named Lucia I. for a split screen view of what a Supernatural workout experience is like.