According to recent statistical information released by the World Health Organization, more than 50% of the entire world population suffers from weight-related health issues. The issue of excessively high BMI induced health disorders is particularly troublesome in the United States, where more than 66% of the population is classified as medically obese.
While some excess body fat is relatively harmless, maintaining an unhealthy BMI for an extended period of time can significantly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, which is responsible for more than 25% of the overall mortality rate in the United States.
Making positive diet and lifestyle choices that promote higher levels of cardiovascular health and weight loss is extremely important in maintaining long term health, a fact that the global population is becoming more aware of.
Many health conscious consumers are taking advantage of new developments in wearable technology, using devices such as FitBits and Apple Watches to hold themselves accountable and track their dietary intake. Wearable fitness tech has made it possible for everyday fitness enthusiasts to access a wide range of activity and dietary information, which has led to an explosion in the fitness and health culture.
Simply having access to advanced fitness analytics, however, doesn’t necessarily provide a dieter or a fitness enthusiast with the best possible tools to improve their health. In order to take advantage of the data provided by fitness wearables, it's necessary to incorporate the data fitness wearables provide into a comprehensive workout plan and health strategy.
Many fitness enthusiasts turn to personal trainers in order to construct a highly effective targeted workout plan and diet tracking system. Personal trainers, however, can be highly expensive. The average hourly rate for personal trainer consultation in the United States is more than $80 USD, which can add up quickly.
Personal trainers suffer from an additional drawback- it’s not possible to access the advice offered by a personal trainer outside of consultation hours, which can make it difficult for fitness enthusiasts to implement health strategies. A groundbreaking new artificial intelligence solution, however, is providing an answer to this problem with an advanced digital personal assistant.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the Astro personal health and fitness assistant and find out how it works to help you decide whether it can assist you reaching your goals faster with less effort.
What Is AstroFit?
AstroFit is an advanced personal assistant that functions in a similar manner to other artificial intelligence assistants such as Siri, Cortana, or Alexa. Instead of helping consumers organize their schedules or shopping lists, however, the Astro AI solution provides highly actionable fitness and health advice based on information gathered from a wide range of sources.
The Astro solution is the brainchild of Guarav Mathur and Deepak Ramachandran. Mathur, a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in machine learning algorithms and mobile device programming architecture, teamed up with Ramachandran to create a personal training solution that provides fitness enthusiasts with meaningful insight into the data provided by wearable technology.
Astro is an extremely elegant solution that provides users with detailed, informative, and results-based advice on how to best achieve their health and fitness goals. Users interact with Astro simply by talking in a conversational manner. In a similar manner to Siri, the Astro AI responds instantly and provides detailed, actionable workout programs, diet strategies, and health information.
How Does Astro Work?
The natural way in which interaction with Astro is structured makes tracking workout and diet information extremely simple. Instead of logging each and every ingredient of a meal through time-intensive platforms such as MyFitnessPal, Astro can be updated with dietary intake information through simple conversation, or even by sending Astro a quick image of a meal via a smartphone camera.
Unlike a personal trainer, the Astro platform is available 24 hours a day. The most powerful feature of Astro, however, is that it can gather information autonomously from a wide range of sources. The Astro AI is able to communicate with Amazon Echo, Apple Watch, and Echo Dot. This cross-platform compatibility makes it possible to consult with Astro via other devices as well, making the Astro assistant a truly ambient digital training companion.
Astro constantly updates the individual profile of its user with information from fitness wearables like FitBit and Apple Health. The data collected from these sources is then scrutinized by the Astro AI platform to deliver meaningful and actionable advice on what to eat, how to train, and the best methods through which fitness enthusiasts can achieve their goals.
The Astro Solution
The Astro device itself doesn't require any specific hardware. Other personal training artificial intelligence solutions typically require users to purchase earpieces or other hardware solution, adding to the ever-growing list of wearable technology that needs to be charged and worn on a regular basis.
Astro comes in the form of a simple downloadable app, and communicates with users via their smartphones. During workouts, Astro is able to give advice on training techniques and structure via smartphone earpieces or bluetooth headphones and, using the accelerometer and other biometrics in fitness wearables, can even deliver targeted form advice.
Users are able to communicate with Astro via devices such as Amazon Echo by simply asking phrases such as “Alexa, ask Astro what’s my plan for the day?”. Alexa is able to relay daily training schedule information from Astro, working in unison with existing assistant platforms.
Results are provided by Astro in simple conversational format. Instead of requiring users to interpret graphs, charts, and other infographics and statistics, Astro can deliver motivational information and even break down macronutrient intake levels in a simple, easy to understand manner.
AstroFit Verdict
Now that wearable fitness technology is here to stay, the next evolution of the platform is in the way we interpret the information it provides. Instead of attempting to develop yet another standalone fitness training wearable, the Astro solution instead delivers a ubiquitous, helpful, and interactive method of interpreting and understanding biometric data.
If you use a fitness wearable to keep on top of your health, the Asto personal health and fitness assistant app is definitely worth trying out. To get your hands on the Astro app as soon as it’s available, sign up for updates via the Astro website.
