No time to hit the gym? Startup Eggplant Technologies is proposing a smart-home solution on Indiegogo today.
If you're anything like me, you struggle to find time to hit the gym. Hong-Kong-based startup Eggplant Technologies learned this well when it launched in 2014. Too busy to fit in a workout, the team dreamed up an "all-in-one" product with built-in sensors that track your movements and transmit that data to a related Android or iPhone app.
Enter: Move It.
Move It, Eggplant Technologies' inaugural product, launched on Indiegogo today. At first glance, this quirky gizmo conjures up memories of similarly counterintuitive-looking fitness crazes from infomercials-past. HealthRider, Nordic Track, Suzanne Somers' assorted ThighMasters, the list goes on...
But Move It's confusing compact design is actually modular, breaking apart into the different components pictured below -- an ab wheel, a resistance band, two push-up bars and a jump rope.
In addition to its four main parts, Move It also boasts battery-powered "interchangeable intelligent handles and sensors"that are supposed to send all of the details from your workout straight to the companion app. Not only is this app connectivity designed to motivate you with activity stats, how many calories you burned and tips on your overall form, it also houses an LED indicator that shows how much charge is left and more.
If having the app track your fitness isn't enough, you can also access live and prerecorded gym sessions and interact with other users (Eggplant Technologies calls them "workout buddies") through their profiles.
I'm not convinced that this contraption would make me any more likely to work out at home, but it does reveal a growing fitness-smart-home trend that goes beyond activity trackers to integrating app-enabled gym products into your home and your daily life. Prices for Move It start at $159 for the earliest backers and the team has a $30,000 funding goal. Find out more on Move It's Indiegogo campaign page.