Exclusive: Supernatural is relaunching in early access and could expand beyond Meta Quest headsets. Meanwhile, Meta VR Glasses could shape what comes next for fitness.

I was heartbroken earlier this year when Supernatural, my favorite VR fitness app on Meta Quest, shut down. But now it’s making a comeback as an indie company. The new app returns this week in early access, with all the same trainers and a focus on getting the classic experience going again. But the funny thing is, just as it’s returning, the very nature of VR is starting to change.

Meta’s VR Glasses, coming next spring, promise to shrink down the future of Meta’s headsets to glasses-like form. And Supernatural’s team feels confident that slimmer, lighter hardware will be an excellent fit for fitness. If so, it could be the beginning of something new. More glasses-like devices on the horizon, including Meta VR Glasses, Google’s Xreal Aura and even Snap Specs, could enable virtual fitness experiences — and everything else VR has promised — in more portable forms that trap less sweat.

But in the meantime, I’m glad the app’s back for Quest. “We’re coming back because people raised their voices and started petitions and said we need this to be part of our lives. We wouldn’t be doing this if that hadn’t happened,” Leanne Pedante, Supernatural’s head of fitness and one of its in-game coaches, said to me of the new, smaller Supernatural team.

I talked to Pedante and James Senior, Supernatural Health’s CEO, about the new service and what else could be coming once Meta VR Glasses roll around next year.

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