The latest in the yogatech invaders!
Not doing the pose correctly? Here’s a gentle ZAP to snap you back into place! — could be the wave of the future in yoga if you ask the folks who created Lumo Lift, a new tool designed to track your posture and movement. Based on algorithms and biomechanics, the Lumo Lift app syncs with your smartphone and a little device that you attach to the outside or inside of your shirt. When you start to slouch, zing!
Ok, it’s actually just a vibration, and it’s a great and gentle reminder for all the desk dwellers out there to “to keep your shoulders back and down and your head lifted,” explains founder Monisha Perkash in an interview with TechCrunch. We agree, it’s great to be reminded when the creeping slouch monster rears its ugly chin-jutting head, and the benefits of better posture are a big deal:
- better health (digestion, breathing, circulation)
- better confidence
- more energy
But, we have to wonder, could this really translate to home yoga practice? Perkash went on to demonstrate how the app can track the movement of your body in yoga, in say, cobra or plank pose. Not to call 1-800-yogalignmentpolice on her plank, but that isn’t exactly the best form we’ve seen. And how can it be a one size-fits all without knowing your entire musculoskeletal body structure?
Lumo Lift also counts steps and calories burned, like a regular fitness tracker, and can sense changes in movement, detecting when you’re walking, running, sitting or lying down. So could it detect correct form in yoga poses? The yoga-targeted product is not yet available, right now it’s just a tease of the gadget’s potential, but we’re curious to see how fine-tuned it could get to be useful.
Lumo Lift is out this spring and will run you $59-79. But if you’re looking for just a posture helper, we have a cheaper option: pay your friend/co-worker/arch-enemy a quarter to slap you on the back every time they see you slouching. For the yoga on your own part, this may be the only time we might suggest the help of mirrors and selfies.
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Earlier…
Super glad I’m not the only one who spotted things like hyperextended elbows, crunched low back and elevated backside. Hm…if the gadget works as well as the example…not so much.
The gadget gave her a score of 52 which I don’t quite understand, but if it’s going to help out her kumbhakasana, plank pose, it should indeed note her hyper-extended elbows and droopy core work. The hips look to be in a solid place relative to her shoulders; extending the tail toward the feet by engaging the core (transverse abs and mula bandha) would strengthen the whole pose.