Have you ever wanted to 3D scan your body to get better health insights? Well now you can! New technology allows fitness enthusiasts to scan their bodies to maximize their training regimen.
In fact, body scanning is starting to become a popular option at gyms across America. Bloomberg recently covered a story about a Manhattan gym called TMPL that offers a variety of high-tech options to customers, including fingerprint scanners, saltwater pools, LED lighting, and a Styku 3D body scanner.
The main idea behind body scanning is that it will help you lose weight more effectively. Most of us fail at weight loss because we’re too focused on the scale. The number on the scale may stay the same, but you could still be replacing fat with muscle, which means you’re getting healthier.
Unfortunately, when you’re just focused on a number, instead of the complete picture of your body, it’s hard to get accurate insight into your real fitness results.
The Basics Behind Body Scanners
Body scanners are offered today by companies like Styku and Fit3D. These body scanners allow you to visualize your muscle gain and view your body transformation in three dimensions.
The body scanners use a powerful camera to extract millions of data points in just 30 seconds. The device features an aluminum base about the size of a kid’s tee-ball stand. During a scan, the machine will take 3D measurements of your waist, chest, and arms, and then assembles a 3D model of your body. That 3D model can be rotated, panned, and zoomed from over 600 infrared images.
Body Scanning Are Growing Quickly
Body scanners are exploding with popularity around the world. Australia’s Fernwood Fitness, for example, has 70 locations across the continent and recently announced plans to roll out body scanners to each one.
Meanwhile, America’s Styku – the manufacturer of 3D scanning equipment – introduced their equipment at a trade show in 2015 after a successful pilot program with smaller gyms. In the 12 months since that trade show, the company increased its year-over-year growth by 550%. Today, the scanners are available in 350 locations in 25 countries around the world – most recently in South Korea, the UK, and Brazil.
How the Technology Works
The Styku 3D scanners and others work in a similar way. They’re very similar to being scanned at the airport in those machines where you raise your hands over your head.
To start, you stand on a raised circular platform. That platform will make one 360 degree rotation while you stand perfectly still. Meanwhile, an infrared camera in a nearby aluminum stand (positioned about 4 feet away) takes pictures, then relays that information to a connected laptop.
Overall, it’s similar to the technology found in motion tracking equipment like Microsoft’s Kinect.
Some Gyms Pair the Scanners with Additional Health Data
Manhattan’s TMPL gym, which we mentioned above, pairs their Styku 3D scanner with an InBody machine. That InBody machine measures your body fat. Then, your data is run through an on-site nutritionist to help you create a diet around the findings.
3D Scanners Were Not Designed for Health Gyms
3D scanners and health gyms are being called an “accidental” discovery. The technology wasn’t originally designed for health clubs.
Raj Sareen, CEO of Styku, got his start by hacking webcams and turning them into body scanners. He was one of 11 people accepted to the reputable accelerator program Tech Stars in 2012, and came out of the program with a business plan to market the technology to clothing retailers. Clothing retailers would be able to use the technology to create clothes that would be the right size every time (in other words, it would be the perfect virtual fitting room).
The clothing industry, however, didn’t catch on to the technology. Sareen turned to fields like plastic surgery, spas, and dermatology. However, it wasn’t until they started going to health clubs that they began seeing traction.
3D Scanning is the Best Alternative to Calipers and MRIs
Prior to the introduction of 3D scanners, people were forced to use calipers or MRIs to get an accurate 3D picture of their body.
Calipers are small pliers that measure the amount of loose skin around your waist and arms, while MRIs are not a commercially viable technology for any gym. 3D body scanning machines are filling the niche left by these two diverse technologies.
Body Scanning Cost a Gym About $10,000
The Styku 3D scanner costs about $10,000 for a franchise operator, with no recurring fees at the moment.
Gym owners interviewed in the Bloomberg article stated that it’s a worthwhile investment that gives their gym a competitive advantage. The gym charges for it, but it can also be used as a type of customer retention.
You might not have to wait long before 3D scanners show up at your gym. With competitors springing up around the world, 3D scanners might be the big health craze of 2017.
