Does the acquisition of VAY by Nautilus confirm we’re at the dawn of a new era in fit tech? We think it does.
VAY is a specialist in AI and motion capture and its proprietary technology enables computers to understand human movement using cameras, such as those built into smartphones.
VAY then provides personalised, AI-driven feedback on reps and form, in real-time, to coach the user and improve their exercise outcomes.
Nautilus plans to integrate VAY into its JRNY platform to offer coaching and form tracking and expects the upgrade to enable it to scale JRNY to the point where it represents 20 per cent of revenues by 2026.
Before the acquisition, VAY was system agnostic, but it’s not yet clear whether Nautilus will share VAY or keep it solely for its own use.
Up to this point, the majority of digital fitness offerings from both B2B and direct-to-consumer providers have deployed a one-way model – either live or on-demand – where participants ‘consume’ content but have little or no engagement with the provider.
Even where some level of interaction has been possible, this has primarily been set up for general engagement and has not typically delivered technical coaching to the user.
We’re now expecting other content providers to graduate from a broadcast-only model to a two-way coaching model as rapidly as they can.
The fit tech sector is growing fast, with investments announced seemingly every week, making it a highly competitive market.
As a result, it’s ever more challenging for companies to gain a clear competitive advantage – and build a strong investor story – in this space.
The advent of increasingly sophisticated AI is bringing technical coaching within the reach of more fit tech content suppliers and as a result, we expect two-way services to emerge as a new and powerful USP for the early adopters, as the drive to stay ahead continues.
There will be a race to acquire businesses such as VAY that can deliver ready-made solutions, heralding a new period of disruption in the fast-emerging fit tech sector.
