The Fiture mirror wants to improve your at-home workout form | Engadget

Maybe the pandemic made you rethink your gym membership, or maybe you just don’t like working out in the presence of other people. Fortunately, there are a large number of devices and connected equipment which can help you exercise well at home. However, without proper form guidance, you risk using the wrong muscles for some actions, or worse, you could end up injuring yourself. That’s why newer devices like the movement of time either the platoon guide I intend to observe while you exercise and teach you better form. The launch of a new smart mirror promises to offer “real-time feedback through shape correction, as well as rhythm, timing and motion feedback” through its “Motion Engine technology.” The company is called Fiture (future of fitness, got it?) and the $1,495 interactive mirror it’s just the start of your offerings.

As the Complete NordicTrack Vault and the Mirror owned by Lululemon, the Fiture has a display embedded within a reflective surface. In fact, the Fit and Mirror have a 43-inch screen, although the former is 12 inches taller at 68 inches. It’s also a bit wider and thicker than Lululemon’s device, but it’s surprisingly 10 pounds lighter. At just 60 pounds, the Fitness offering was easy enough for me to pick it up and move it short distances (but that’s just me flexing).

At a recent demo event, I tried out a few workouts on the Fitment mirror. Around 200 to 400 workouts will be available at launch, with sessions ranging from 5 to 60 minutes in length. They cover categories like strength, HIIT, yoga, boxing, pilates, barre, cardio sculpting, and cool-down stretching. You’ll need to pay a monthly fee of $39 to use the device and these classes, which is similar to what Lululemon and Peloton charge with their hardware. Although Peloton allows up to 20 user profiles, Lululemon only supports up to six and requires a “minimum one-year commitment.” Meanwhile, Fiture allows you to have up to seven users on one membership and you can subscribe on a month-to-month basis.

My personal gripes about buying hardware with required subscriptions aside, I can understand charging a recurring fee for services that release new content all the time, and Fiture said it will add new videos every week and live classes they are in process.

I am most intrigued by the ability to customize workouts. Through the companion app, you can select one of three preset durations (5, 10, or 15 minutes), the type of activity (HIIT or Strength), and the level of difficulty. The system generates a series of movements, such as squats, hip hinges, lunges, presses or elevations, which you can edit by modifying the duration of each series or the number of repetitions. You can also add any number of exercises from Fiture’s extensive library of moves, and when you’re done, stream your custom class to the mirror.

The custom workouts won’t have a coach guiding you through the entire session like the pre-recorded ones, but I love the idea of ​​being able to create my own specific sets or supersets. More importantly, the device will still count your reps and monitor your form as you do them.

This is the highlight of the Fiture system. It has a camera built into the bottom third and it blends into the mirror so well that I can only see the sensor at extreme angles. The company includes a cover that magnetically attaches to the mirror so you can cover the camera when not in use. Using 4K video captured from the camera and its “Motion Engine” algorithms, the device not only counts your replays, but can also judge your pace. According to Fiture, if you’re flying through your reps, you should consider using heavier weights. If you’re moving too slowly through a movement, you should try something lighter.

In the demo, I did about a dozen upright rows, front raises, and lateral raises with a pair of 8-pound dumbbells (which is lighter than my usual 10 to 15 pounds). At the start of the set, I sped up the reps and my pace was mirrored on the screen, roughly at eye level. I slowed down a bit and reached what Fiture considered the optimal pace. Reps done at that speed scored higher, but each move contributed to my total for the workout.

I tried another session that involved an overhead Arnold press and noticed that some of my reps weren’t counting. Fortunately, a diagram appeared at the bottom right of the screen telling me to stretch out his arms when he was above my head. Once I started paying attention to that part of the movement, the system started counting my reps again.

Fiture also offers timed sets instead of specific numbers of reps. In another session I sat in a chair position for a minute, and the mirror only started counting down the seconds when it determined I had sunk deep enough and had my arms high enough. When I gave up at 58 seconds and got to my feet, it stopped counting.

The mirror can also detect exercises performed on the ground, such as hip thrusts, planks, and mountain climbers. I did about 20 hip movements, and Fiture counted each and every one of them. I had trouble keeping an eye on the on-screen trainer when doing alternate side bird dogs, but that’s a problem when following any training video with ground work.

At the end of each workout, you’ll see a summary of your calories burned, time spent, and also your position on the app’s leaderboard. Fitture will also suggest a follow up video which is usually stretched for a cooldown. You can raise your hand and hold it for a few seconds to automatically start the recommended activity, which is quite convenient. I tried this several times and the camera was pretty accurate in noticing when I had my arm raised.

Because the Fitture isn’t touch-enabled, you’ll primarily interact with it via the companion app, the built-in volume and power buttons, or through gestures. Voice control is coming, the company said, and will offer options to pause a workout, for example. For the time being, though, after you start a video from your phone, the app will turn into a remote for the mirror, displaying controls for play, pause, volume, skip sections, and fast-forward or rewind in 15-second increments.

I couldn’t test this out in the demo, but Fitture also comes with a heart rate tracker that you can use to see your cardio performance on screen. You can also connect your own Bluetooth-enabled heart rate or fitness tracker, like the Apple Watch, and see your pulse on the screen. For now, Fiture doesn’t offer videos that use that information for personalized workouts based on your real-time cardiovascular performance, but the company said it’s looking into that option.

Based on my short time with the Fiture mirror, I have to say that the system seems to be fine – my buttocks were sore the next day. In parts of the brightly lit event space, the on-screen video was a bit difficult to watch, particularly when sunlight was reflecting directly off the surface. But almost everywhere else in the interior space, the display was sharp and easy to read. The background music and coach’s voice in training were also loud enough to hear.

In the fitness mirror space, Fitture is a pretty stylish option. Although it doesn’t come with equipment like resistance bands or weights (you’ll have to use your own or rely on bodyweight workouts), its motion detection and form guidance are built right into the device. That’s different from the Lululemon Mirror, which, outside of live classes, requires additional connected weights to count reps and provide feedback. The Tempo Move also requires you to use its custom color-coded bars and plates before it can effectively count your reps.

Best of all, for someone like me who lives in a small studio, Fiture’s small size is extremely attractive. It’s also one of the best looking smart mirrors and comes in five colors. But before spending $1,500 on the Fitment mirror, I recommend waiting until we can do a little more real-world testing to see if it’s worth it.