Dubstep Drama: Goro Fujita on Supernatural’s First-Ever Dynamic Environment

Dubstep has been a mainstay of Supernatural for years, energizing multiple workouts with its dynamic beats. And there’s no better way to break a sweat than giving it your all in one of the hit fitness app’s breathtaking landscapes. But what if you could take that experience even further with an immersive environment that reacts to the music — and your actions — in real time?

Well surprise, surprise, athlete: That’s exactly what awaits you in Supernatural’s first-ever dynamic environment, a menacing lava desert that intensifies every move you make.

We sat down with the man behind the magic, Meta Art Director Goro Fujita, to learn more about his latest creation and the role that Quill by Smoothstep plays in his creative toolbox.

Goro Fujita: I’m an Art Director, Illustrator, Animator, and XR Prototyper. I started my career in the entertainment industry in the early 2000s and dove into tech about 10 years ago. My journey has taken me through various creative roles, from animating for feature films to working as a Visual Development Artist at DreamWorks Animation and now prototyping for the metaverse.

One of the highlights of my career was art directing immersive experiences, including Emmy Award®-winning VR experiences like Henry and Wolves in the Walls, Chapter 1 at Oculus Story Studio. I also took on the role of Executive Producer for a slate of Meta-funded VR-animated shorts.

My passion for innovation led me to pioneer VR storytelling with Quill, which has been a game-changer in bringing stories to life in virtual reality.

GF: As an Art Director at Meta, I’ve found myself wearing many different hats. While my title might suggest a focus on traditional art direction, my responsibilities have shifted significantly towards XR prototyping in recent years. Much of the work I do here is experimental and iterative.

The ideas and concepts I develop together with the prototyping team often find their way into final products, shaping the overall user experience and aesthetic. It’s a behind-the-scenes role, but one that I’m passionate about because it allows me to push boundaries and explore new possibilities.

GF: I've been creating in Quill since 2016, and it’s become an indispensable part of my creative process. In fact, I spend a significant amount of time in Quill every day, and it’s become so intuitive that it feels like an extension of myself.

While there are other native creation tools available on Meta Quest, Quill remains my go-to choice. Its versatility and ease of use make it the perfect tool for bringing my ideas to life in VR. Whether I’m prototyping, illustrating, or animating, Quill is always my first choice, and working on the dynamic environments for Supernatural was no exception. I feel incredibly lucky to have it as a part of my creative arsenal.

GF: I joined the Supernatural community in 2020, just as the pandemic was taking hold. With everyone stuck at home, I found that Supernatural offered a perfect escape—a way to transport myself to beautiful environments and get a great workout at the same time.

As the months went by, Supernatural became an integral part of my fitness routine. To make things more streamlined, I even got a fitness-dedicated Meta Quest for my workout space. Now, whenever I need to break a sweat or clear my mind, I can simply slip on the headset and immerse myself in the stunning virtual landscapes. It’s been a game-changer for staying active and energized during a challenging time.

GF: I have to admit, I was in the dark about the Centipede Club until I started collaborating with the team on the Dynamic Environments project.

But as it turns out, I’ve been unknowingly part of the tribe all along as I always chose dubstep and hip-hop for my workouts in Supernatural and did various workouts featuring “Centipede.”

GF: Initially, the Supernatural team approached me with a different concept in mind. However, I had been toying with an idea that I thought could take their workouts to the next level: animated environments that pulse to the beat and respond to the player’s movements. I saw an opportunity to create an immersive experience that would not only enhance the physical workout but also engage the user on a deeper level.

So I pitched my idea for a dynamic map that synchronizes with the music and adapts to the player’s actions, elevating the already exceptional Supernatural experience.

GF: I firmly believe that using VR for fitness is one of the most compelling use cases in this medium. Workouts can be grueling, and distractions are essential to push ourselves beyond our perceived limits. Traditional home workouts, staring at a wall or mirror, can feel monotonous and unengaging. However, with VR, the experience is transformed.

Supernatural immerses you in vast, breathtaking environments where targets fly towards you at high speeds, and you can slash them with virtual batons or punch them to shatter them.

The sense of excitement and engagement is palpable. You forget that you’re actually working out, and before you know it, you’re drenched in sweat and have burned those extra calories. It’s already a powerful fitness app, but I wanted to take it to the next level. My goal was to make players feel like they possess superpowers. With the virtual batons, you already feel a sense of empowerment, but what if you could create shockwaves that alter the environment?

Imagine slashing down and causing the ground to break apart, leaving you floating on a sea of hot lava.

I also envisioned an environment that permanently changes throughout the workout. As you progress, the space leaves traces of the mayhem you’ve caused, and you leave behind a battlefield.

My primary objective was to give players the sense that they are more than what they think they are. By utilizing animation as a vehicle, I aimed to push players beyond their physical limits, making them feel like superheroes who can shape and transform their surroundings. This immersive experience would not only make workouts more engaging but also empower players to tap into their inner strength and potential.

GF: My creative process began by immersing myself in the song—listening to it on repeat to really get into its groove. I also completed the workout using the beat map (the sequence of targets flying toward you) in a generic environment, which helped me identify which sections of the track I wanted to highlight visually.

Given the title “Centipede” and its dubstep genre, I knew from the start that a menacing centipede had to be at the heart of the experience. The voiceover at the beginning of the song, which describes the centipede’s behavior and features, immediately sparked ideas for striking visuals. While the song references a tropical habitat, I faced a technical challenge: The environment’s file size needed to remain small, making a dense jungle impractical. I needed a setting that could be visually dynamic and easily manipulated to accentuate the music’s beats.

After some research, I discovered that giant centipedes also inhabit deserts. This led me to envision a giant black centipede with glowing red eyes, set in a dramatic lava desert surrounded by sharp rocks and a distant volcano.

This environment not only fit the mood but also allowed for creative synchronization with the music and player movements. For example, I could have lava balls erupt from the magma and explode in time with the beat, split the ground into rock pillars that act as music visualizers, and make the earth tremble as the centipede dives in and out of the surface.

Since the player remains stationary during the workout, it was crucial to design everything from a single, fixed point of view. I made sure not to spend time on details that wouldn’t be visible to the player, which is an easy trap to fall into.

Once I had a first draft, I collaborated with John Bernhelm, the Supernatural prototyper, to test the map with the actual workout targets. This was eye-opening—I realized how much of the animation could be missed when players are focused on hitting targets. As a result, I had to exaggerate all the movements significantly to ensure the effects were noticeable during the workout. It took several iterations to strike the right balance between dynamic visuals and not being overly distracting.

Experimenting in this new space of animated workout environments was incredibly rewarding. I loved pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and finding creative ways to make the experience both immersive and motivating.

GF: The single biggest hurdle I faced was the file size constraint. Since Supernatural workouts need to be streamable, the maps must remain within a certain file size limit. While this is manageable for static environments, it becomes a significant challenge when dealing with a four-minute animated environment. All the animation data needs to be stored somewhere, making it crucial to optimize the scene for file size. The tricky part was figuring out how to do this without sacrificing visual fidelity.

Choosing a lava desert environment was heavily influenced by this constraint. To minimize file size, I employed various techniques to reuse animations and reduce duplication. For example, I designed three lava pillar animations that could be rotated to create the illusion of multiple pillars. This way, I could reuse the same pillar animation from different angles, making it appear as though there were many more pillars than actually existed.

Similarly, when the centipede’s tail bursts out of the ground, it’s just one animation shown from different angles. I only animated half of the centipede and deleted the other half, as the rest would not be visible since it’s submerged in the ground.

Painting towards a single point of view also helped keep the file size small. By only painting the front face of the rocks in the distance, I could suggest a more complex rock formation without having to paint the entire structure.

To overcome this challenge, I had to dig deep into both my artistic and technical knowledge and employ creative problem-solving skills. It was a true test of my abilities, but the end result was well worth the effort.

GF: Dubstep is awesome, but the music can get pretty intense! While I wouldn’t call myself a die-hard dubstep fan, I did enjoy listening to it and dancing to it when I was younger. What I love about dubstep is its visceral quality—the beats are so infectious that they seem to beg for movement or visuals.

When I close my eyes, I can almost see the visuals unfolding in time with the music. That’s exactly what happened when I started working on this map. I drew inspiration from the song itself, letting the beats guide my animation choices. There are moments where the song creates this vibrating noise, and I just knew I had to animate two centipedes emerging and vibrating in sync with the sound. That’s also my favorite part of this map.

As I continued working on the map, I found that the rhythm, movement, and visuals all came together in a way that felt truly magical.

GF: The dynamic environment was created entirely in Quill by Smoothstep, a tool that empowers artists like me to work as a one-man band. With approximately 60 hours of work, I was able to bring this immersive experience to life. However, it’s essential to note that my two decades of continuous skill-building and expertise played a significant role in completing this project so quickly.

If I were to follow the traditional 3D pipeline, I estimate that this project would have taken several months to complete on my own. But with the help of VR and Quill, I was able to achieve this in a much shorter time frame.

The most rewarding part of this process was witnessing the Supernatural team playtest the environment and seeing their reactions during gameplay. Watching them smile throughout the experience was truly priceless!

GF: If you're struggling to find the motivation to run outside, hit the gym, work out at home, or even if you’re just curious, I encourage you to give Supernatural a shot and experience the new dynamic environment. My hope is that this will inspire people to move more, feel empowered, and prioritize their health.

As an artist, there’s no greater reward than knowing that my work has made a positive impact on someone’s life. If I can inspire just one person to enjoy working out in a way that feels fun and engaging, it would bring me immense joy. So take the first step and give Supernatural a try—your body (and mind) will thank you!

GF: I had the pleasure of sitting down with Supernatural Coach and Head of Fitness Leanne Pedante for an exclusive behind-the-scenes interview. Check out the full conversation below to get a deeper look at my creative process, inspirations, and experiences working on Supernatural’s dynamic environment.