ATLANTA — Whether you're a professional athlete or someone who just loves to work out, you know injuries can happen. A few Georgia Tech students created an app designed to help prevent injuries and lessen physical pain while working out.
“People find value in what we’re building. Every day they’re telling us that our app has changed their life for them and that brings me happiness,” EZPT app founder Jai Chawla said.
One aspect of our lives permanently changed by the pandemic has been the fitness industry.
“People are always wondering ‘Is my form, right? When I’m squatting, am I going down low enough?’” IOS developer Amogh Mantri said.
Georgia Tech student Jai Chawla, along with several others, created an app called: EZPT.
“It started a couple of years ago when my co-founder (Kunal Gandhi) herniated his disk when doing a deadlift. He was a personal trainer himself and it was pretty ironic that he knew how to work out, yet he still injured himself while doing so,” Chawla said.
The app uses computer vision to recommend biospecific exercises to help correctly implement movements and reduce pain.
“So, what our technology does is it uses computer vision. All you have to do is, you set your phone up against the wall, start working out in front of it and it uses the phone’s camera to start tracking your joints in real-time. Say you’re squatting and you’re leaning too far forward, it will tell you in your headphones to make sure your back is straight,” explained Chawla. “Using that technology, PTs (physical therapists) can see their clients’ progress over time in a more objective manner than they do now.”
“I love to work out and the app helps correct form. I know that my form isn’t always perfect, so the idea that I can make an app that I can use every day when I’m at the gym I think is great,” Mantri added.
The app has also been successful in the sports world. Since its’ creation, the app has won awards from the NFL Players Association and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The creators and the engineers behind EZPT are hoping that this can also help other athletes in the future.
“We’ve seen a lot of non-contact injuries in sports recently. For example, Odell Beckham Jr. in the Super Bowl, he didn’t touch anyone, he hit his knee on the turf and his ACL blew out. There's ways that we can help that, we just have to do better,” Chawla said.
You can download EZPT from any app store. You can also learn more about the app online here.