The gym has become the latest venue for the artificial intelligence revolution to gain a foothold, as London-based fitness technology app Magic has raised $2.5 million to develop an AI-powered personal trainer.
The company, which is now valued at $8 million, has built a wall mirror containing cutting-edge holographic technology to offer users a virtual one-on-one fitness training experience.
Magic has assembled an team of celebrities and athletes and brand ambassadors to promote the new product, including former England Cricket captain Sir Alastair Cook Strictly Come Dancing champion Katya Jones and England Rugby Star Celia Quansah.
Co-founder Varun Bhanot told the Standard: “When I previously built a tech startup I got very overweight and ate too many kebabs – I was told I needed to change soon or face health problems.
I’d never been into a gym before, and when I started going I found it intimidating and I realised how old-fashioned the process is.
“Given my background in a tech company I wanted to replicate the experience but give people personalised training from the comfort of their own home.”
A camera embedded into the mirror tracks people’s movement as they train, as well as recording their progress.
“When it’s off it just looks like a beautiful piece of furniture, but when you turn it on, a hologram appears who you can follow,” Bhanot says.
“The camera allows you to get live feedback as you work – it counts your reps and tells you if you’re doing it wrong.”
Bhanot hopes to use the many to scale up the product’s software and AI capabilities, bring more athletes into the brand and expand sales of the mirror across the UK and beyond.
