Physical personal trainers were yesterday: today it is the mobile app. Vay Sports, a UZH Spinoff startup has launched the first digital fitness coach that uses computer vision and AI to provide real-time feedback on posture during workouts. The solution will not only enhance workout results but also prevent injury.
Present-day fitness apps provide images or animations of how to perform a workout exercise. Much as the instructions are easy to follow, the apps do not inform the user about their performance particularly, regarding the body posture during the session. A poor body posture can be detrimental to one’s health but also hinder the achievement of the desired results.
A team of three co-founders in collaboration with the University of Zurich has developed the first digital fitness app called Vay Sports. Unlike conventional fitness apps, Vay Sports uses computer vision technology and algorithms to create a computer model of the user’s body from which it reads out the joint angles and compare them to an optimal repetition, designed with the personal trainers (see video).
Vay sports is, therefore, an artificial intelligence (AI) fitness coach designed to help fitness enthusiasts to make workout sessions more productive and to achieve the desired training results. While using the app with the front camera facing the user, the AI-Coach sees and understands the user’s movement and provides them real-time feedback. Just like a physical human coach, the AI-coach motivates users, and it keeps a log book of their progress to inform them about their improvement areas.
According to Caspar Leuzinger, Co-Founder & CMO at VAY Sports, the solution offers people the chance to train with their favorite coach next to them without meeting them personally.
The Beta version is now available in the Apple and Android app stores. Up to 1000 beta users will have the opportunity to test the app and contribute to its development. The final version will launch in September with six personal trainers from around the world. The startup is accepting pre-orders.
One of the first users of the solution says: “Working out with VAY gave me the extra kick that I needed. Having a coach like Laura practically beside me and coaching me made the workout much more fun. I didn’t now that such things were already possible!“
Quelle:
https://www.startupticker.ch/en/news/may-2019/vay-launches-the-beta-version-of-its-ai-based-fitness-coach