How do you get the Trikonasana (triangle pose) right? How not to hurt your back while doing the Virabhadrasana (warrior pose)?
An app attempts to help people correct their yoga postures using artificial intelligence (AI).
Three friends — Shriyansh Dalmia,Rachit Kumar and Ashesh Mishra — of Class XII, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy, can’t wait to launch their latest innovation in the market.
The app is aimed at health-conscious high school and college students and is the result of hours of brainstorming with family and friends and some hands-on experience at their school’s Atal Tinkering Lab.
It was Shriyansh, who had first come up with the idea. “I tried to practise yoga during the lockdown. That’s when I realised that there are no apps to help you if you are going wrong and have no trainer nearby. Talking to my father ignited my mind,” said Shriyansh.
His two classmates were immediately on board, and slowly the idea started taking shape. The boys have been working on the app FitFrame since last May, on late-night Zoom calls. “We have designed an artificial intelligence-based yoga fitness trainer that analyses yoga postures and tells the user if his moves are correct. The users get some real-time feedback and supervision. It is for the many who perform yoga at home, minus a trainer,” said Shriyansh.
The boys have already been doing some research and development. The concept won them accolades at Tinkerpreneur, a nine-week digital skills and entrepreneurship boot camp organised by Atal Innovation Mission and Niti Aayog. The boys finished in the top 25.
“The most challenging aspect was integrating the machine learning and AI module with yoga moves,” said Ashesh Mishra, who has done most of the research.
“We collaborated with our school fest’s dance troupe to incorporate data on four common yoga asanas — Trikonasana (triangle pose), Vrikshasana (tree pose), Utkatasana (chair pose), Virbhadrasana (warrior pose). But our database is ready to take up more inputs. The app, with the help of a webcam, maps the body posture and checks with its database if any alignment is incorrect. The user is told what they need to do,” explained Shriyansh.
The idea also ranked in the top 75 at the ATL Space Challenge, co-organised by ISRO, CBSE, and Niti Aayog. “We are hoping to launch the app in a few months,” said Rachit.
“Our school’s Tinkering Lab has encouraged students to experiment and innovate. These boys are aspiring scientists, who can benefit our country. I am proud of them,” said director Meena Kak.