Peloton Testing Ways To Provide Users Feedback In Real-Time

Fitness tracking is an important trend in the fitness industry, with a number of companies offering various types of devices to track workouts and many users looking for ways to get feedback on their performance during a workout.

The Tiger product, if released for consumer use, will act as a smart coach and work with Peloton's Strength, Yoga, Cardio, and potentially other exercise classes to count user reps and provide real-time feedback and corrections on form. The Tiger smart coach, which is about the size of a cassette player, can be attached to the company's workout bike screen or users' televisions and computers. The Tiger's connected wellness hardware uses a camera to assess users' movement and form in-the-moment, and has a privacy cover for when it is not in use. The technology powering the new device is most likely from Otari Studio, a crowd-funded startup in the connected wellness space recently acquired by Peloton that designs and produces an interactive workout mat with an artificial intelligence exercise tracker that uses computer vision to capture and analyze workout form.

Peloton has been actively surveying members about rolling out boxing classes, as well as hinting at the launch of strength training products to compete with Tonal, and The Tiger would likely be usable for connected feedback within those class offerings as well.

Hardware represents an important growth opportunity for Peloton, as the brand looks to activate more within the fitness community and provide their members with an increasing array of connected wellness solutions to support fitness goals and progress. By tracking user health across a variety of devices and providing real-time feedback, the company will be able to give users better personalized feedback and wellness advice. A strong sign of the company's interest in this area is their recent acquisition of premium gym equipment manufacturer Precor.

Using technology and connected wellness programs to track users' progress, and deploying artificial intelligence and smart solutions to help coach them through their goals, is part of a larger trend the PSFK research team has noted around the rise of connected personal wellness platforms and devices supporting physical fitness and mental health. A new generation of digital wearables and smart devices and software platforms are creating intelligent feedback loops to assist users with their physical and mental health through personalized treatments and programs, as well as real-time tips.

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This article originally appeared in PSFK's research paper, Connected Wellness Experience