Is lack of motivation one of the reasons you’re not keeping your New Year’s resolution to work out more this year? It is for most of us, and that’s why the next generation of Moov Now will come in handy for a lot of slackers.
Moov is a tech company that creates wearables to track your fitness activity and the latest model comes with an artificially intelligent personal trainer.
The wearable Moov band has an accompanying app that can train its user on five sports: swimming, cycling, running, cardio boxing, and bodyweight, coming with a seven-minute workout that anyone can do in their living room.
It only took two weeks for Moov to pull in more than $1 million from customers pre-ordering the wearable personal trainer. It all went down so quickly due to the Selfstarter campaign the company launched in February of 2014.
First devices started shipping last fall, and Moov has been making big money by selling tens of thousands of wearables via Amazon and their own website.
Even if it works a bit like Fitbit in tracking daily activity and sleep schedule, Moov has taken it to the next level by detecting and monitoring movement within a 3D space. The Move Now’s insides contain a gyroscope that detects rotation, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer required for the direction of movement.
Meng Li, co-founder Moov, explains that tracking steps isn’t so important if the users want to get fit – it’s more important that they are aware of the number of minutes of moderate exercise they get daily.
That’s why the Moov algorithm focuses on “speed, stride cadence, and landing impact while you run, cycle, or swim,” which are only some of the physical activities it can assist in.
The best thing that Moov Now has implemented is the personal trainer that talks to you in a Siri-like voice during your workout routine, an AI that can also suggest you better ways to improve your physical shape.
If you like to listen to music while you exercise, Moov has already thought of that too: Spotify has been integrated, and hearing your coach’s instructions over the music is not a problem, as the music fades in and out as needed.
It’s enough to use the workout band a few times before the coach gets to know your routine and places you on a level. If the coach has estimated your running to be at a 7 level and you put yourself on a level 3, she’ll notice and tell you to pick up the pace. Because the first generation of Moov had a very intense coach, the company had her toned down a bit in the Moov Now version.
Image Source: The Verge