Yoga: you’re doing it wrong, and this Kinect-based system will tell you so

If you’re the type who prefers scouring YouTube for how to videos to hitting the gym, you’re in luck. A startup is working on a way to link instructional videos with an Xbox Kinect so it can point out the mistakes you’re making in real time.

Kinobi developed a system which allows its users to record themselves using a webcam, and compare it to a video on YouTube to check accuracy. But, according to founder Chapman Snowdan, people wanted something more — they wanted corrections in real time. So they brought in Microsoft’s wonder device.

Speaking at TechCrunch Disrupt, Snowdan explained how people seem to try everything when they’re young, but tend to get more embarrassed about making mistakes in public as they get older. Kinobi’s new system will allow anyone with a computer, an internet connection and a Kinect to receive individualised feedback on anything from dancing to tai chi to yoga, without having to look like an idiot in public. It shows a split screen with an instructor on the left and a pattern of dots over the live feed from the Kinect on the right, so you can place your body in the correct position to perform the move the right way and build up your confidence.

It only works with major muscle movements at the moment — but the team is hoping that, with time, they’ll be able to refine it so that the system can be used to teach things that require fine motor skills like surgery.