The Naked mirror
uses infrared light to
scan a person's
body and create a
3D model.
Credit: Naked Labs
With the app, users
can get detailed
measurements of
their body, including
weight, muscle mass
and body fat
percentage.
Credit: Naked Labs
scanning mirror
could soon have
you asking,
"Mirror, mirror on
the wall, who's
the fittest of them
all?" But unlike
the magic mirror
from Snow
White's tale, this
new device will
objectively
respond with your
body dimensions, weight and muscle mass,
all displayed on a 3D avatar of your
physique.
The device, called Naked, is the first 3D body
scanner and fitness tracker designed
specifically for people to use in their homes,
said Ed Sclater, co-founder of Naked Labs,
the California-based company behind Naked.
Naked consists of a mirror, scale and
smartphone app. The full-length mirror is
equipped with sensors along a black strip,
which runs down the side of the mirror. The
sensors contain Intel RealSense technology,
which uses infrared lightto scan your body.
This is similar to what an Xbox Kinect does.
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The scale sits in front of the mirror and
rotates 360 degrees in 20 seconds. As you
rotate on the scale, ideally wearing minimal,
skin-tight, workout clothing, the sensors
create 3D depth maps of your body at around
30 frames per second, Sclater told Live
Science.
"We stick all those [maps] together to create
your 3D body model," he said, which is
accurate down to one-tenth of an inch.
Once your 3D
body model, which
is essentially a
mini black-and-
white avatar of
yourself, is
complete, the
image and data
are sent to an app
that you can open
on a phone or
tablet. This
happens within a
minute after you
step off the scale.
You can rotate
your avatar, zoom
in on parts of your
body and display
your body
measurements,
including body fat
percentage .
This measure is calculated using a method
similar to a hydrostatic dunk-tank test, which
compares how much you weigh in water
versus on land to get your accurate volume.
If you weigh significantly less in water,
meaning you are more buoyant, you likely
have a higher body fat percentage, because
fat is lighter than water. Naked is "essentially
a virtual hydrostatic dunk tank test," Sclater
said. But, instead of using water, Naked uses
your 3D body map to extract your volume.
The system can also pinpoint changes in
muscle and fat for different parts of your
body by analyzing shapes, Sclater said. For
example, the shape of your arm and thigh
will look very different if those body parts are
dominated by fat or muscle; fat is generally
rounder and less shapely, Sclater said.
The app allows you to understand your body
and really see changes, the company said.
The app displays bands that stretch across
your neck, shoulders, chest, arms, waist and
legs and shows their measurements and
percentage of muscle and fat. The app saves
successive measurements and allows you to
compare them to each other, Sclater said.
For instance, "If your biceps increase in size
but your body fat percentage went down, you
can assume that that change is a muscle
increase ," Sclater said.
Being able to see progress can encourage
people and help them to stick with workout
routines, Sclater said. In fact, only around 20
percent of people stick with health club
routines after joining the sites at the
beginning of the year, he said. When he
looked into why those 20 percent stuck with
their workouts he found that they stayed
because they saw progress, "and that
progress motivated them to continue,"
Sclater said. [How to Get Started on a Weight
Loss Program ]
To help motivate the 80 percent of people
who lose their workout motivation, Sclater
and his business partner, Farhad
Farahbakhshian, created Naked, aiming to
give people a visual context for the changes
happening to their bodies, Sclater said. "This
product is for literally anyone who wants the
knowledge to take control of their health and
wellness," Sclater said, whether it's the
casual exerciser to the goal-oriented athlete.
Sclater and Farahbakhshian said they have
received positive responses from people who
have tried Naked. Almost every person who
has tried the system has said, "Wow, I look
better than I thought I did," Sclater said. It
seems that an objective view is always better
than people's perception of themselves, he
added.
Naked can be pre-ordered now for a reserve
price of $499 with a deposit of $95. The cost
will gradually increase over the next 10
months until it reaches the retail price of
$999, according to the company. The first
shipment is expected in March 2017, Sclater
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