Of the 3,800 companies that debuted their products at America’s biggest consumer electronics expo CES 2017 in Las Vegas last month, only 10 were from India. Boltt Sports Technologies was one of them. But being at CES 2017 is not what makes Boltt special. What makes Boltt special is that unlike other fitness brands cluttering the market today, Boltt offers personalized coaching to the wearer. And this customized guidance is powered by artificial intelligence (AI).
“Boltt was conceptualized with the vision to make the end user a prime focus. We are consistently mapping the consumer’s needs and challenges, his approach toward fitness and ways to which he or she can stay encouraged,” explains Boltt Sports Technologies Co-Founder & CEO Arnav Kishore. “Our aim is to motivate people around the globe to make a move toward a healthier lifestyle and stay fit by customizing their fitness routine according to personalized data analysis.”
Meet B, Boltt’s AI-powered health coach
The Boltt ecosystem is made up of ‘connected’ shoes, stride sensors that can be clipped to any footwear and a smart band. The New Delhi-based startup has been working with Garmin to co-create sensor forms within the hardware portfolio.
Meanwhile, the in-built AI health assistant and workout partner called ‘B’ records and analyzes sleep, nutrition and activity data of users going beyond traditional ‘tracking’. The extracted data is broken down into movements classified into various forms of activity, along with automatic detection of sleep — its different stages and patterns. The data also includes a module for nutrition, which a user can log into the mobile application with millions of items to choose.
Based on this information, the AI health coach B provides real-time chat guidance on the most relevant elements, depending on what time of the day the user logs in. A leading panel of experts, ranging from doctors, healthcare professionals, nutritionists, athletes, psychologists, data scientist, etc., gives meaning to trillions of datasets. The central intelligence — built via complex integration of rules, algorithms and machine learning — delivers the most personalized insights and training instructions to the user.
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Boltt Co-Founder and CMO Aayushi Kishore believes that despite the consumer enthusiasm toward wearables, and an equal amount of data (if not more), there isn’t enough inference available to the users. Since the wearer is usually not an expert in nutrition, fitness activity, sports, and wellness, deciphering the data becomes a challenge. “There is an urgent need for a holistic solution,” Aayushi insists.
“Other competitors in the wearable tech space are only innovating on hardware. No robust digital experience supports the hardware. Some case studies show that most people dump their wearables within weeks of using them because they do not know what to do with the data,” shrugs Aayushi. “Our AI health assistant is a guide, friend, coach and easily understandable. It is a combination of fashion with innovation.”
Boltt wearables availability and price
Wondering when can you get your hands on a Boltt wearable? Well, having an omnichannel strategy, Boltt will be available through popular e-commerce websites, like Amazon and Alibaba, for commercial sale by the end of this quarter. “Our plan is to take the Boltt wearables mainstream by tapping fitness chains, sports academies, corporates, schools and insurance companies. This will be in addition to the direct retail channels across the US, Asia, and Europe,” says Aayushi.
And how hard would Boltt hit the pocket? Arnav, for one, promises that the company would be pricing its products within a bracket which will be 30-40% cheaper than the global competitors, wherein the products will be available in the price range of $60 to $100 approximately. “Rest assured, it’ll be easy on the pocket,” he signs off.
