How India's First Artificial Intelligence Fitness Trainer Is Making Workout Sessions Easy In Pandemic

Staying fit has been quite challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially when the lockdown was in place and everything shifted to the digital mode.

Many fitness trainers started online workouts during this period to find an alternative. There were many takers, too, however proper guidance and exercise feedbacks were missing.

Feedback On Workout

To tackle this issue, Pritish Swarup started Natasha.Health, a platform that leverages computer vision technology through the user's smartphone camera and offers real-time feedback on workout sessions, ANI reported.

While many digital solutions track a person's movement through motion sensors strapped to the body, there is a lack of exercise correction or remote physical therapy due to the absence of TeleHealth Physical Therapists (TelePTs) during the workout session.

"I attended gym and fitness classes in whatever way possible. When I couldn't make it, I used fitness apps like Nike Training Club, Aaptiv, Cult, etc. But the main challenge was tracking my progress. I did use Apple Watch or Fitbit, but it only works well for running and cycling."

The platform's founder said he wanted to do something for tracking the workouts and give real-time feedback. "In short, we wanted a personal trainer who could provide proper guidance and feedback, without spending the money," he said.

No-Frills Model

With continuous and real-time exercise feedback, Natasha.Health guides users step by step to follow the correct form, helping them gain confidence in their movements. The USP of the platform lies in its no-frills model, and it requires no additional hardware or sensors and uses only the users' mobile devices. People are thus empowered to attend exercise sessions with proper guidance - accessible anytime and anyplace.

Swarup further stated that the latest advances in hardware, machine learning, and artificial intelligence ensured that it was possible to build a solution accessible on smartphones. However, it was still a novel idea.

After thorough research, the technology finally worked, enabling pose tracking via mobile devices for the first time, allowing the team to build Natasha in a much more accessible way.

"Probably all of us have loved ones who are either struggling with obesity or other health issues but don't know where to begin. I have lost many important people, and I thought it was time to take action. After months of hard work, we are finally here with a product that is trying to bring fitness to everyone," Swarup said.

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