Virtual reality headsets have come a long way since I first saw a VR “arcade” pop up in a mall in the 1990s. (I never played, though I was curious; $ 5 a game was like spending a week’s pocket money.) Now you can put on a headset and walk around your living room, with options ranging from dance games to fitness apps I want to learn: How well can you train in virtual reality?

What can a VR headset actually do?

I’m trying out the Oculus Quest 2, a device that plays games on its own without being connected to a computer. You wear the goggle-like headset and grab two controllers, and the games require you to move your hands to do things.

In most VR fitness apps, you don’t have to press any buttons on the controllers, you just move your hands. Since the game also knows where your headset is in space, it can ask you to crouch or lean to the side. The games don’t differ too much in the types of actions they are prompted to take, but they differ widely in the type of environment you are immersed in while performing them.

How to set up your VR workout space

While a virtual world can be as big as the game’s developer wants it to be, your living room is still only as big as your living room. The games have to keep you moving while preventing you from actually running into a wall or slamming your hands on your bookshelves, so there is a system in place that sets virtual boundaries.

At Oculus, the boundary is called your guardian. (Another popular VR headset, Vive, calls it Chaperone.) When it was time to set up the Guardian, the virtual world disappeared and I saw my real surroundings in grainy black and white. My couch, walls, and everything else were visible for this step, and the device told me to use my hand controllers to draw a line on the floor to define my safe space. (The movement is similar to spraying a jet of water with a garden hose.)

The minimum recommended size for room-scale games that allow you to move around is two meters by two meters, or 6.5 by 6.5 feet.

I was hoping to maybe use my driveway as leeway, but the Oculus comes with warnings not to use it outdoors. There are several reasons for this. First, you are completely blind to your surroundings while playing, so you may not notice people, cars, squirrels, etc. entering your room. Second, the headset uses small cameras to find out where it is (and where your hands are), and it may not work in the dark or in extremely bright light. And third, if sunlight gets on the lenses, you’re fucked. Even a few minutes of sunlight – let’s say you take your headset off and leave it screen-side up on a sunny day – can destroy the device.

So I set up my Guardian and started exploring the virtual world. When you start the headset you are in a virtual home environment with menus that appear as a giant virtual screen in front of you. The border I drew was invisible, but if I ever got too close to it I saw it appear for a moment, a transparent wall marked with grid lines.

If you go through the guardian wall, the game world disappears completely and you can see your actual surroundings again in this black and white view. I found this handy for placing a water bottle and sweat towel just outside of my exercise area. I just had to stick my head through the perimeter and I was able to have a drink without taking off my headset. Another fun feature: you can add your real couch in your virtual environment.

What do VR fitness games look like?

The simplest, and I find the best, throw a torrent of objects at you, and your job is to smash them to the beat of the music. Other styles of play include dances where you copy your partner or teacher and boxing games where you immerse yourself in real fights. (I found a boxing game so exciting, despite the cheesy graphics, that I went to the bench in the game locker room and expected to find my water bottle there.)

There are also games that allow you to practice real sports in a virtual world, including simulators for golf and table tennis. Another fascinating format is simply creating an ever-moving virtual world around you as you pedal a real exercise bike.

Dealing with sweat and practical issues

Active VR games bridge a strange gap between video games (played on a couch while nibbling Cheetos) and workouts (done in sweat-wicking clothing). The difference takes getting used to. For example, I had to figure out the best way to arrange my hair. I usually grab a bun or ponytail when I work out, but the straps on the machine get in the way. A low braid was the best option I found.

Another thing I found while browsing virtual reality forums is that people who really use VR for training have tricked their headsets with aftermarket straps and accessories. One of these that I actually bought was a silicone case for the part of the device that touches your face. (Mine was a cheaper one, but I was told that VR coverage is the Cadillac of such attachments.) This prevents sweat from seeping into the foam, resulting in a much less harsh handover if your son borrows the headset to play Beat Saber and returns it all wet and smelly.

I’ve played through a number of games with the appropriate gear and I’ll take you on a full tour of my favorites next week. If you’ve done VR fitness workouts, let us know in the comments how you liked them and if there are any games I shouldn’t miss.

Photo: Fahroni (Shutterstock)

Gypsum was the building standard until the 1940s, if drywall burst onto the market. Before that, it was a popular choice for wall construction due to its flexibility, fitting around corners and in small spaces where materials like brick were not suitable. However, its malleability has a disadvantage, as plaster of paris can’t hold a lot of weight – things like your flat screen TV and floating shelves – because the material tends to crumble under pressure. But there are ways to hang objects on plaster of paris without crumbling the walls.

How to hang your things on plaster walls

If you only hang pictures or other items that weigh 30 pounds or less, Plaster hook do as they are angled to evenly distribute the weight of the items. These special hooks don’t need anything other than a tape measure and hammer; However, AS hanging display systems warns against the use of plaster of paris nails, which are prone to cracking.

If you are hanging something like a TV mount, make sure to find the stud in your wall first. Buy cheap Bolt finder is the easiest way to get it right. Then you will need 2 inch screws, plastic plugs, a drill bit, and your drill bits. Using painter’s tape to mark and drill can help prevent crumbling and tearing as you screw into the walls. This video from eHow at Home provides a great example.

How to drill into plasterboard walls

To avoid cracking and crumbling, you need to pre-drill holes for your screws, and you can start by taping a strip of blue tape before drilling holes in the wall – it helps make neat holes without crumbling as much. Make sure your drill bit is the same size as your plastic dowel, or just slightly larger for a snug fit with the screw, then drill directly into the blue tape. Push or hammer the anchor into this hole, and then you can screw directly into your anchor.

G / O Media can receive a commission

Photo: Ivan Marc (Shutterstock)

The “Watch Next” section is the first thing you see when you open your favorite streaming service, and it often has a helpful list of series you want to keep streaming … but it can also be filled with shows, that you gave up or shows you have completed but still appear because you did not complete enough credits.

It can be quite annoying. Fortunately, you can fix your “Next Watch” section for every major streaming service out there.

How to edit your viewing history on Netflix

To delete a show or movie from your “Continue Watching” section on Netflix, you must also remove it from your viewing history. This can only be done through the account settings on the Netflix website.

1. Open that Netflix website in your browser (desktop or mobile) and log in to your account.
2. Press the profile Icon in the upper right corner and select the “account” Opportunity.
3. In the “My Profile” section, select your profile (if your account has multiple profiles) and click on “View activities” Opportunity.
4. Find the movie or TV show you want to hide and click Hide Button (a circle with a solid line). If you want to hide the entire series, click on “Hide series“Button.

G / O Media can receive a commission

How to edit the Keep Watching section on Hulu

If you remove a show from Hulus’ watch history, it will also be removed from the “Continue Watching” section. Fortunately, this is easy to do.

1. Open that Hulu website in your browser and navigate to the “Watch” section.
2. Hover over a thumbnail of the movie or TV show you want to hide, and clickx“To remove them from your watch history.
3. Press the “Completed“, to complete the process.

How to edit your viewing history on HBO Max

HBO Max has a separate “Continue Watching” section that you can edit right from your browser or mobile app.

1. Open that HBO Max website in your browser and sign in to your account.
2. Click the menu button in the upper right corner and selectContinue watching” Opportunity.
3. Press the “Edit”Button from the See Next section.
4. All titles now have a Remove button. Press the “Removed”Button from the title that you want to hide from this list.
5. If you want to remove all titles, click on “Delete everything“Button. When you’re done, click”Completed“To save your changes.

How to edit your viewing history on Amazon Prime Video

You can remove “Continue Watching” items from account settings in Amazon Prime Video.

1. Open that Amazon Prime Video website in your browser and sign in to your account.
2. Press the profile Button in the top right corner and select “Account and settings” Side.
3. After you have logged into your Amazon account, go to the “Watch History” tab.
4. Find the movie or TV show you want to hide and clickDelete movie from playback history” or “Delete episodes from playback history” Opportunity.

How to edit your viewing history on Disney Plus

Disney + has a function to “continue looking”, but there is no way to edit such a list. As soon as you watch a movie or TV show, it will be displayed here.

The only way to remove it from Next Watch is to quit. Yes, it’s archaic, but until Disney + adds a playback history editing feature, that’s the only option.

Just open the movie or TV show you want to remove and fast forward to the end. Leave it ready and once that’s done it will be removed from the list (for a TV show, do this for the final episode).

How to edit the Up Next section on Apple TV +

The TV app on iPhone, iPad, and Mac makes it really easy to remove movies and TV shows from the “Next” section.

1. Open the TV app on your device and go to “Look now”Tab.
2. Here, find the movie or TV show that you want to hide. If you’re using an iPhone or iPad, tap and hold the media cover. If you’re using a Mac, hover over the media cover and click the three-dot Menu Button.
3. Now select the “Remove from Up Next” Opportunity.

The movie or TV show will disappear from the Up Next section on all of your devices.

How to edit your viewing history on Paramount +

While Paramount + is a relatively new streaming service, it does have a feature to edit your “Follow me” list.

1. Open that Paramount + website, sign in with your account and find the Keep Watchlist section.
2. In the upper right corner of the “Keep watchlist” section, click “Edit“Button.
3. You will now see circles for every title in the list. Select the tracks you want to hide and click on “Removed”Button in the upper right corner.

There are several approaches to removing the round, slippery core from the creamy flesh of an avocado. You can squeeze anything – the pit and everything – into one bowl, but that only works if you need avocado puree. However, if you want pretty wedges or slices for an aesthetic toast, you need to get the thing out without crushing the fruit. You can always hit it with a sharp knife, but the maneuver is not without risk – avocado-related hand injuries from swinging blades are so common that they have their own name (“avocado hand”).

But – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – thanks to TikTok, Joel and I now have a better and safer way of removing the pit from the avocado without hurting our delicate computer hands. (We need them! They are our money makers!)

You should watch the video to get the full visual effect, but it’s a simple move: take the half of the avocado that still has the core in it, place your index and middle fingers on either side of the core, and your thumb the back of the fruit. Gently press your thumb into the back of the avocado, but not through, and marvel at the ease with which the pit pops out. Caution: Be sure to use the tip of your thumb, not the tip. I pushed out my first pit with the tip of my thumb (which has a pretty sharp nail) and then I had a thumb-shaped hole in my avocado. (I ate it anyway.)

Once the pit is removed from your avocado, you can fill in the dent it made with things and stuff. I personally like it Fill my avocado bulbs with soy sauce or sherry vinegar and small pieces of leek, such as thinly sliced ​​shallots or spring onions. (If avocado toast is more your thing, give this a try ‘nduja.)