Artificial Intelligence making paradigm shift in India’s fitness tech: Fittr CEO Jitendra Chouksey

New Delhi: In the last two decades, the world has seen an unprecedented technological boom, with innumerable creative inventions. Gadgets have infiltrated all aspects of life and have made inroads into all professional fields. From communication to entertainment, technology has become an inescapable part of our lives.

Artificial Intelligence can give intelligent solutions to wellness and fitness related issues. It has opened doors for endless opportunities in a Online/Virtual Fitness Market which is expected to reach $79 Bn by 2026.  AI has taken a vital place in taking the fitness industry to a new level. It contributes to a range of processes including, day-to-day activity schedules, and user experiences etc. It is being actively used in customising diet plans, human pose simulation and personalised training.

In an exclusive interaction with Zee News English, Jitendra Chouksey, Founder & CEO, Fittr speaks on how technology has evolved over the years and how it is going to predict things for the future.

 Edited Excerpts:

1.How is technology anticipating other serious life-threatening diseases like stroke and others?

Technology has made a lot of progress in the past few years when it comes to disease prevention and pre-empting any new ailments. Many wearable smartphone accessories have technology that can pre-determine stroke & other conditions or assist users with existing conditions in recovery. These accessories combined with smart devices make it easier for users to communicate & manage their health. Machine Learning algorithm-based research, particularly concerning heart-related diseases, has made considerable advancements. In some studies, it has been noted that it has the capability today to predict or at least pre-empt heart attacks. The health data collected can be well fed to machine learning models & algorithms to keep a check on parameters such as risk factors associated with stroke & other conditions. Machine learning processes play a significant role in making real-time decisions that benefit stroke patients & users with other conditions. For healthy users it can greatly help them stay on the brighter side of health. With constant improvement in the analysis of data around heart diseases, it can be said that in the future, AI will be used to assess structural diseases, such as valvular disease, to help determine the classification and staging of the disease.

2. How can AI help in the affordability of gadgets? How it helps in more empirical advancement of healthcare gadgets? (For example: Accu check gadgets are medically accepted)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging tool that enables people to rethink how we integrate information, analyse data, and use the resulting insights to improve decision making—and already it is transforming every walk of life including healthcare.  The potential application of artificial intelligence (AI) machine learning (ML) can be leveraged by using advanced algorithms and vast amounts of data generated through their routine use.  AI-enabled medical devices and software can be utilised to quickly convert data into new information which can be utilised to optimise healthcare delivery performance in real-time. AI is not new, it's been there all the while. Today where we have progressed is the ease of use of AI & its applications. We have today reached a point where we can unlock a lot of its potential. Data is fuel for AI and Machine learning is a subset of AI. AL needs a huge amount of data for training various models to create an accurate diagnosis. AI can be integrated with existing smart devices as a software update, thereby reducing the cost. In today’s world where things are moving pretty fast & with several advancements in technologies, we have many accessories that can help with determining blood oxygen, blood pressure, blood pressure, heart rate & electrocardiogram reports, sleep etc several of these parameters can help determine if a person is in the right path of healthiness or no. These devices also have the capability to automatically send reports to your doctor in cases of emergencies or concerns. Soon we should be looking at a range of devices & accessories combined to provide a full health check service, where AI systems would serve as a medical assistant. These advantages can lead to improved treatment outcomes for patients, resulting in reduced costs and substantial gains in the overall quality of healthcare everywhere.

3.What is the scope of growth AI has in the digital fitness segment?

Artificial Intelligence is being deemed as the future of technology by experts all around the world. Just like what we have witnessed in the last few years, technology won’t take any time to enter the world of fitness once the meteoric rise of AI begins. With the disruption in the fitness industry, technological innovations are sure to offer an optimal diagnosis of the entire human body and provide apt analysis using AI. Artificial Intelligence is already being used in the fitness industry to optimize consumers' fitness needs – be it finding the right coach, getting the best-personalised nutrition/ diet plan or even the best-suggested route to get fit with a week-on-week analysis. All these technological advancements will further simplify and streamline healthcare delivery and push people to make the right health and wellness decisions to lead a fitter life. Additionally, AI can lend a helping hand in devising plans thereby giving more time for coaches to work on enhancing the overall client-coach service experience.

There is a huge scope for AI in fitness. When we talk about fitness what comes to your mind? A person would be termed as completely fit given that if the person has good relative muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, balance, body etc we also observe the person's emotional & social well-being in conjunction to the mentioned parameters. Now to achieve this a person would have to work on their daily activity which is a balance of strength & cardiovascular training which in turn would need nutrition that matches the activity & good amount of rest too as people also have jobs. Now that there’s so much to do and keep track of it becomes very difficult to stay disciplined, consistent & motivated always. Which means people would need a companion but then the companion too may need one too. So, we can say that people may need a companion or a digital companion to help them stay disciplined, motivated & consistent. That’s exactly where AI comes into play.

Here below are few examples that will give you an idea of the usage of AI

- Given the fact that people would have to perform activity training to improve their strength AI can create your training plan based on several physical and personal attributes & also serve as a form correction assistant

- If a person has faced a physical injury AI can help with physiotherapy guidance

- AI can help you keep track of your nutrition needs and suggest alternatives within your preferences

- AI can help keep a check on your moods & mindfulness by tracking your sleep and rest routines via your heart rate & movements

- AI can help you connect with people in the fitness industry be it coaches or skilled trainers, it can make the best choice for you based on your persona

- For advanced athletes AI can provide guidance and assistance for better performance

As you can see in the above-mentioned points people are going to need AI daily and the use cases keep getting better as the data accumulation keeps increasing .

4. During COVID 19, how did tech fitness platforms utilised AI to help people meet their fitness and health goals?

While AI integrations in the fitness industry were already in progress, the COVID-19 effect resulted in accelerating these integrations to a great extent. With the world being in complete lockdown the fitness industry had an opportunity to utilise existing and accelerate new AI software solutions to all the people to help achieve their health & fitness goals. Some examples would be as follows: -

- Form corrections

- Nutrition needs & tracking

- Finding relative coaches, trainers, fitness buddies & training programs.

- Progress & goal path predictions

- With the world having a physical disconnect, it was important to keep a check on the mindfulness, emotional & social well-being of a person. AI programs facilitated with software mechanisms to do so

The quarantine period amidst the COVID-19 pandemic brought many lifestyle changes among the masses. People who used to prefer going to the gym or other fitness centres had to explore strong alternatives by being at home. Many people preferred to buy feasible gym equipment themselves and pursued weight-training, cardio, or other forms of workout in their homes. With strong communities in every professional field being built on social media platforms, fitness enthusiasts now have access to several experts who can guide them through workouts and advise them on the lifestyle that suits them best.

At Fittr, during the pandemic, we leveraged AI to best meet the needs of the consumer and help them guide their fitness journey.  Fittr built a unique AI tool that matches the users' requirements to the best fitness + nutritional and personal coach which helps in achieving the desired goals most effectively and efficiently. At Fittr, during the pandemic, we leveraged AI to best meet the needs of the consumer and help them guide their fitness journey.