Million Girls Moonshot
How Does Mixpose Use AI on The Edge and Intel Processing to Keep Virtual Yoga Students Motivated & Connected?
Author: David Allison, Coach, Teacher, Writer, and Technology Enthusiast
If you have an Apple Watch, ridden on a Peloton cycle, or used the Mirror when working out at home, you know what sort of biological data can be tracked and how to set and check fitness goals. Can these devices let you know if you are running at the correct gait, in the best position on your bike, or lifting that weight above your head with the correct posture? Not yet. But Mixpose, a pain management company that uses yoga therapy to relieve the physical and mental stress of its students, uses AI to make virtual students aware if they are performing the correct number of poses assigned by their instructors as well as if the poses are done properly.
Peter Ma, the co-founder of Mixpose, elaborated with us in this interview that Mixpose is a platform where yoga instructors can teach virtual yoga classes to anyone at any time. And while this is nothing new, his platform differentiates itself from its competitors by using AI with recognition to enhance the relationship between the online instructors and the students. AI recognition or AI with recognition capabilities are terms used to describe artificial intelligence systems that can recognize, structure, and categorize a variety of data patterns. The two most used and discussed AI recognition systems are those used in speech recognition and image recognition. In this story, we are looking at image recognition and how the AI software partnered with a laptop and camera can be used to recognize image patterns and movements.
What this allows the yoga instructor to do in the Mixpose platform, with both small and large virtual groups, is being made aware of a student who is not doing the correct pose at that time in a live class and provides interactive feedback to that individual to get him or her back on track. Moreover, after the class, the instructor can see how well all the students did withholding particular poses and provide encouragement to them to keep them motivated and connected.
How AI makes students accountable
According to Ma, the reason the company was founded was “To create and enhance relationships between yoga instructors and students.”
He continued, “Yoga should be taught in a perfect location.” And allowing students to have the ability to be anywhere they want when taking live or on-demand classes means a potentially better experience for both students and teachers.
Because of this AI recognition software, teachers are no longer two-dimensional objects on a screen many hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Now, they can give feedback and support to all their students because they can see what poses were done, who did them, and if there were any difficulties with any of the poses, they can provide feedback to them on how to either do a variation of that particular yoga position or once again model that move for them in a message.
This technology can also make students more accountable to what they are doing in their yoga classes. If a student is doing the wrong position, the AI puts that student to the front of the instructor’s feed so he or she can refocus that student to the correct pose being done at that time. With this AI recognition software, it is as if the instructor is walking around an actual yoga studio repositioning the student in real-time. This level of connection between teacher and student is not found in other virtual exercise classes.
This level of accountability is good for students and teachers alike. Students who are claiming the yoga program is not working for them may be surprised by the level of granularity an instructor can dig down to in regard to the student’s ability (or lack thereof) to follow the routine set forth by the instructor. For example, an instructor on Mixpose could see that a certain student has been in the class but has routinely only done 25% of the yoga poses assigned during a class.
Move beyond yoga
While Mixpose is used for yoga now, this AI recognition software can be used in the future for other types of exercise body position monitoring by virtual coaches. Stretching, weightlifting, HIIT exercises, and other sports-related training could be live-streamed with the same level of connection and accountability being seen today between yoga instructors and members on the current platform.
As fitness consumers, who do not always want to join a busy gym, have busy work schedules, or simply want more flexibility with our work-life balance, virtual training has to evolve beyond a ripped trainer on the screen who does not know who you are — AI allows for this accountability and connection we all desperately seek, but on our own terms. We want to be coached up by a real person and not artificially hyped up by a pre-recorded trainer — with AI recognition software this reality is already here, and it looks like there is no going back.
But for now, Ma’s focus and goal for Mixpose is the following:
With this interaction [between yoga instructor and students] we hope to use yoga and technology to relieve the chronic pain people have.
A great starting point for a technology that is sure to go way beyond the scope of pain relief in the years to come. What will be the next chapter of AI recognition software? And will the gap between in-person and virtual coaching be narrowed because of a lingering global pandemic or has there already been a paradigm shift on how we as humans view “connecting” when it comes to our physical fitness?
About the author:
My name is David Allison. I am a father, husband, business owner, teacher, coach, and runner.
Lately, as our world gets back into shape from the pandemic, I have been thinking about the impact technology has played a vital role in our lives –specifically around living a healthier lifestyle.
It is easy to point a negative finger at technology for being a platform for a sedentary lifestyle. Yes, video conferencing, streaming movies have made it more convenient for us to stay home and many people became more sedentary, but it is really our own fault and not technology. As a tool technology can be used for positive and negative purposes…it is about how we use it.
I started to think about how I remained active over the past year, how people around the world stayed healthy and active during? and what were some of the reasons people did not make use of technology in more positive ways especially with regards to healthy living?
I decided to talk to Intel a technical leader and innovator for over 40 years in the field of manufacturing and technology and see what they have been up to in the realm of technology and healthier living.
Want to know more about my work and current projects?
- Introduction to David Allison and his series Intel Tech Health & Fitness blog series
- LinkedIn profile
Million Girls Moonshot
Your views can make a difference. Four of my stories will be raising money for STEM Education — Million Girls Moonshot movement supported by the Intel Foundation. These blogs will be labeled with the Kicker “Million Girls Moonshot”. All financial compensation obtained from these articles will be donated to STEM Education in collaboration with the Intel Foundation. We will share the final amount raised for this cause in a Q1'2022 post. Let’s make a difference and show support for the next generation by clapping for these stories.¹
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