Motiva Fitness
For this project I worked together with a local gym in Karlshamn, Sweden, called Motiva Fitness. I had an idea about using AR (augmented reality) to help beginners use the gym equipment.
The problem
The gym staff saw an issue, where beginners failed to use gym equipment and machines correctly. To combat this, the gym had initiated a gym introduction session, where one of the staff members showed new members how the gym equipment worked. However, after the session it was still clear that the beginners had trouble remembering all the details and instructions. This issue was also confirmed after talking to some of the beginner gym members.
On the gym machines at this gym, there were images of the actual machines printed onto each machine, showing which mussels that were going to be engaged while using it. However, there were no clear instructions of how to use the machine to maximize the workout.
The solution
I came up with an idea to use AR (augmented reality) to help beginners remember the details at each machine.
Almost everyone at the gym had their phone with them. To use an app to scan the machine for instructions, would not be that much of an inconvenience for the gym members.
Thus, I created a prototype using an AR app called Aurasma (now “HP Reveal”) to see if this concept actually worked.
The process
I began by making videos together with the staff, where they would explain how to use the machine in the same way they would during an introduction session. I then edited the footage and uploaded it to Aurasma.
I then made illustrations of how the machine were to be used, and then printed these illustrations out on sticky paper. Then (with permission from the gym staff) I stuck these illustrations onto each machine, along with instructions on how to scan the image.
The result
The results from testing the prototype was that people enjoyed the videos, and their purpose. Beginners felt more confident using the machines after the introduction session. However, there was a slight barrier with using Aurasma as the application. New users had to first download the app, and then “subscribe” to Motiva’s channel in order to see the videos. People were also not quite comfortable with using AR at this time - the technology was still quite new.
To combat these issues, we moved away from the use of Aurasma. Instead, we put the videos up on Motiva’s website, and then had the gym members access the videos by instead scanning QR codes on each machine. The result of this was that the gym members felt more comfortable with the technology. Thus, there was an increase in video views.
Conclusion
This was a very interesting project to be part of. The first idea of using AR felt like a nice fit, but after implementing the solution and reviewing the results from the tests, it was interesting to see how the solution actually worked with the users. The QR code solution was more adoptable to the technical level of the users, at the time. Remember, this was back in 2015 :) Nowadays, several gyms have their own apps for booking classes and handle gym subscriptions. Perhaps, if the AR feature existed within these apps, people would have been able to adopt the solution better.
Overall, the project was a success, as it solved the issues that the gym staff and members were experiencing.