Jun 16, 2017

artificial intelligence Meet AI-based Boltt Sports that makes smart shoes, stride sensors and fitness trackers The startup's mobile app tracks health, training, sleep and nutrition, and B gives real-time voice coaching and interactive feedback throughout the day J Vignesh  |  ET Bureau  |  June 16, 2017, 08:22 IST       Imagine doing your morning workout with the help of a virtual personal assistant that instructs you while you are at it and even encourages you to do another lap so that you can meet your fitness goals. Meet `B', a personal health assistant with a twist. A product of Delhi-based Boltt Sports Technologies, B is powered by artificial intelligence . “We launched Boltt two years ago.Arnav Kishore was a professional tennis player and tech freak. We started with smart shoes that can track all biomechanical data,“ said Aayushi Kishore, 27, who cofounded Boltt with her 24-year-old brother Arnav two years ago. Their family runs Globalite Retail, a sport lifestyle brand. Along with B, Boltt makes “connected“ smart shoes, stride sensor and fitness trackers. The startup's mobile app tracks health, training, sleep and nutrition, and B gives real-time voice coaching and interactive feedback throughout the day. “We track all verticals, from nutrition to diagnostics. All data points get transmitted to the mobile app, which draws inference and gives virtual automated feedback. The feedback is chat and audio based. We connect dots ­ like how sleep is affecting your diet, etc. ­ and give actionable insights,“ said Kishore. The stride sensor comes embedded inside the shoes but can also be clipped on any shoe or be worn with the help of an ankle band. It can analyse performance metrics for field sports such as soccer and hockey. The company has partnered Garmin, a wearable sensors maker, to work on various sensor forms that capture all forms of body data. Boltt launched its wearables at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas in January.“Together with Boltt, we have created a tech-enabled sports training platform called Specialised Sports Performance. This platform will analyse data from the Boltt Stride Sensor and provide real-time feedback by displaying essential metrics of training and well-being of each player for coaches to observe,“ Mark Steele, a South Africa-based sports scientist and biokineticist said at the launch. But can an AI powered “coach“ be as good as a human coach? Kishore certainly thinks so.“The user will get constant motivation and guidance on how they can improve their health and fitness. A human coach cannot comprehend so much data in a fraction of a second and there are scalability issues and it is not automated,“ she said. “The tech used here is your solution to `X' number of coaches and nutritionists. You will have data in the palm of your hand, with coaching.“ Boltt, which is looking to raise Series A funds within a few months, has already received about $1 million from promoters and two seed rounds. The startup is set to launch its products, priced at Rs 2,000-6,000 in the next few days and is targeting sales of Rs 50 crore in this financial year. “We will be opening orders on our website. Post that, we will be available on all e-commerce channels.We are targeting India, the US and Europe,“ said Kishore. “The company is tying up with institutions across sectors such as banking, insurance, hospitals, fitness and sports chains. Our hardware and software will be customised to these use cases and used there.“ She said the company is targeting not just business-to-consumer but business-to-business sales as well. RELATED