Mumbai: Staying fit has always been a challenge – even more so during lockdowns and when work from home policies are in place.
Yes, fitness trainers started online workouts and there were many takers, but proper guidance and exercise feedback was missing. Natasha.Health , founded by Pritish Swarup, is built to tackle this very problem. The platform leverages computer vision technology through the user’s smartphone camera and offers real-time feedback on workout sessions.
While there are many digital solutions that track users’ movement via motion sensors strapped to a user’s body – there is a lack of exercise correction or remote physical therapy due to absence of TelePTs (TeleHealth Physical Therapists) during the workout session.
According to Natasha.Health Founder Pritish Swarup , “I attended gym and fitness classes as much as I could. When I couldn’t make it, I would be using fitness apps like Nike Training Club, Aaptiv, Cult, etc. But the key challenge was tracking my progress. I did use Fitbit or Apple Watch, but it only works well for running and cycling.”
“We wanted something that could track our workouts and give real time feedback on our workouts. In short, we wanted a personal trainer who could provide proper guidance and feedback, without spending the money. And that is when we realized, we could just build it,” he added.
With continuous and real-time exercise feedback on Natasha.Health, users are guided step by step to follow the correct form, helping them gain confidence in their movements.
The USP of Natasha.Health lies in its no-frills model. It requires no additional hardware or sensors, using only the users’ own mobile devices. And hence users are empowered to attend exercise sessions with proper guidance – accessible anytime and anywhere.
He further stated that recent advances in hardware, machine learning, and AI ensured that it was possible to build such a solution accessible on smartphones, though it was still a novel concept. After months of R&D, the technology finally worked enabling pose tracking via mobile devices for the first time, enabling the team to build Natasha in a much more accessible and distributable way.
Commenting on the inspiration behind Natasha.Health’s launch, Pritish added, “Probably all of us have loved ones who are either struggling with obesity or health issues, but don’t know where to start and how to begin. I personally have lost many important people in my life and it was time to take action. Here we are, after months of hard work with a product that is trying to bring fitness to everyone.”
