Moov's fitness tracker works as a personal trainer to improve your workouts
There are quite a few fitness trackers out there now that all do exactly the same thing: monitor how much you move. While there are tons that can tell you you're not moving around enough, there isn't really anything out there that focuses on the quality of your movement over the quantity of it. That's where the makers of Moov are hoping to fit in to the fitness space; their $59 device aims to work as a personal trainer of sorts, helping your improve you workouts
The easiest way to describe Moov is as a wearable Leap Motion. The waterproof disc can be worn on your wrist like a watch or strapped around your ankle or arm, and can capture movement. While you're working out, it pays attention to how you're moving, and offers real-time suggestions on how to improve. For instance, when you're running, the app might suggest you shorten your stride or tell you that your landing is too hard -- something that could ultimately cause an injury. Moov also notices things like your shoulders not being directly over your hands when you're doing pushups, or even that your not kicking fast enough when you're swimming laps.
When the device ships this summer it will support five different workouts: running, weight training, cardio boxing, swimming, and biking. We had the opportunity to see the running and cardio boxing workouts in action, and walked away fairly impressed. With just the small sensor on a wristband, Moov was capable of letting us know our running form could use some work, and gave us tips on how to throw the perfect jab. The cardio boxing demo in particular felt a lot like other fitness games we've seen like Let's Dance, in that it suggested movements and then awarded points based on how well we were able to perform them. The difference of course, is Moov is handling all that with a watch and an iPad.
At launch, Moov will be iOS only, but an Android version is expected to follow three months later. The plan is to add support for more workouts over time, and sell Premium workouts as an additional purchase, similar to how you might buy a new title for your PlayStation. Other titles in the works include yoga and martial arts. Ultimately Moov will retail for $120. In order start production, the company is crowdfunding its initial run of devices, and offering a discount for early adopters -- $59 for one device, and $99 for two. Those who get their workout buddies to buy one as well can score $5 off the purchase price for each referral.
