playground
imagining the future of strength training in gyms - 2020
strength training
Strength training is anything you can do at a gym that is not purely cardio. This could be bodyweight exercises, using resistance bands or machines, or free weights.
benefits
Strength training has incredible health benefits for all groups of people.
what strength training means to me
Throughout college I had the opportunity to compete as a member of University of Cincinnati’s diving team. The story of my involvement with strength training begins here.
Because diving is a sport that is directly related to power and quickness, cross-training with weightlifting is very common in my sport. When I began competing in college, weightlifting became a part of my training regimen. I picked up strength training quickly because I am extremely active, agile, and have great body control. I learned to love strength training and quickly realized its benefits.
As I participated in both Industrial Design at DAAP and was an athlete for UC, I had to continue my training even when I traveled around the country on co-op. In doing so, I spent a lot of time in various gyms across the US. One of the things I noticed was that the strength training part of the gym was consistently the most intimidating and inaccessible part of a gym environment. With my senior thesis project, playground, I set out to solve these problems.
research
The data below is pulled from a survey of 379 people involved with fitness in addition to interviews with experts in strength training.
insights from strength training experts
competitive analysis
Using secondary research I compiled a competitive analysis of fitness brands that are technology driven or focused companies. I annotated the product and what made it successful when applicable.
creative strategy
Approachable
Restyle equipment so it is more approachable, inviting, and intuitive to use for a diverse demographic.
Established
Implement features that make equipment more effective and stay pure to current strength training techniques.
Personalized
Customize workouts for each person accounting for their experience, daily recovery level, and preferences.
Accessible
Create a gym that is accessible to many people in affordability, location, and function
Instructional
Design a system that teaches people what workouts to do and how to exercise with the correct form.
round 1 sketches
round 2 concepts
I created renders of each of my 3 concepts using the same color and material palettes for each so that they could be cross compared in interviews and surveys.
validation
I conducted a survey of a random sample of individuals and interviewed stakeholders to help me better understand what the gym equipment should look like and how the system should function.
Survey
I created a survey that was shared across multiple demographics to help me validate my designed interaction with the system and 3 concepts plus their features: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/strength_training_in_gyms
Interviews
I did interviews with a few of my stakeholders where I asked directed questions about my concepts and verbally asked for feedback. I interviewed Kirtley Krobmholz, Madeleine Casey, Kris Chalk, and Adam Hoffman.
interface wireframes
With such a complex system, each interface was laid out individually, screen by screen in wireframe format.
the system
The playground consists of three main components; the franchise, the equipment inside the gyms, and the interface to keep everything connected.
Franchised Gyms
The franchise includes the branding of the gyms and guidelines for people to open their own playground location. The goal is to have many small gyms that are conveniently located within walking distance of many people to increase accessibility to strength training,.
Equipment
The equipment for the gym centers around the base unit of the weightlifting rack. The rack area includes a weightlifting platform, bench, barbells, weight plates, bar collars, dumbbells, and storage for personal belongings while working out. Additionally, the gym would include other equipment like resistance machines, kettlebells, warm-up equipment, and other functional training pieces.
Interface
The interface at the gym is a mirrored screen that gives you coaching and workout recommendations. However, the overall interface includes a phone and desktop app for scheduling. Additionally, each location would be equipped with a personal trainer on staff adding to the community feel of the playground.
the brand
The playground branding uses a fun, yet professional logotype inspired by the shape of the weightlifting rack for the system. This arch shape is incorporated in the bends of each letter. The colors are playful because at the playground, working out should be fun. While bright, the colors are contrasted with light pastels and cool grays to give balance to the brand, this comes through in the colors, materials, and finishes for playground.
Shown here are the opening pages for the playground’s phone app, as well as the front faces of the gym membership cards.
the five-minute walk
The five-minute walk or the pedestrian shed is the distance people are willing to walk before they opt to drive instead. For the maximum accessibility to strength training, playground locations will be small and located about every half mile from one another or within a five-minute walk from any point in a city.
Similar to the way bike sharing apps work, the playground app will include an interactive map to let members know how many racks are available at each location so they can best schedule their workouts.
the unit
Displayed here is the weightlifting rack for the playground. It can be thought of as a base unit for the system. With many of the other components working in conjunction with it.
A gym is a complex environment with many objects that work together to create an enjoyable experience. To have an effective workout with strength training considered, gym-goers need a space to set up their workout and the rest of the equipment. A weightlifting rack serves that purpose well. It is a starting point for all barbell workouts and has a platform which is a rubberized floor area that gives people space to do bodyweight workouts, use free weights, or other functional equipment.
the setup
Included in the system are weightlifting racks with adjustable hooks and arms, a mirrored interface, embedded motion tracking sensors, a storage area for personal belongings, an adjustable bench, dumbbells, weight plates, storage for weights, and barbells.
working out at the playground
Working out at the playground is easy! Workouts are customized for you or you can enter your own. For each exercise you have an option to view a demo of how to execute it correctly before you attempt it on your own. The interface then starts an interval timer for your set and counts your reps for you. If you make a mistake or break form, the system can coach you through it. This way you can lift with confidence.
coaching technology
Using embedded motion tracking sensors in combination with computer vision algorithms means working out at the playground is like working out with a personal trainer without paying for one.
Motion tracking technology
With embedded motion tracking technology, the playground’s interface tracks exercise motion in real-time. Using computer vision algorithms, the system can see when you make a mistake and help you correct it. It can track barbell and dumbbell velocity to see when you are struggling and make recommendations on weight loads to use. Internal parts adapted from Microsoft Azure Kinect.
Skeletal tracking
Using a depth sensor, the system identifies objects in 3d space and tracks key data points. If you imagine a skeleton with each joint as a point in space, then you would have a pretty accurate visualization of what this technology can see. This camera-like technology recognizes objects and motion but is not storing visual data like video for the privacy and security of gym members.
storage area
The workout at the playground centers around a personalized exercise experience. To facilitate this, each person or group of people working out have their own weightlifting rack area reserved for them for the duration of their workout. For space efficiency, rather than a locker room, each rack is equipped with a wall mounted shelf and hook unit made of powder coated steel.
bench
Essential to many strength training exercises is a workout bench. The bench is adjusted by pressing the color-coded tab and moving the piece to the desired angle.
The bench is upholstered with a durable wool and nylon textile coated with a permanent moisture barrier to keep all your sweat off the bench. The frame is made from cast metal pieces with elegant connection joints and moving mechanisms. The bottom of the bench is equipped with rubberized stoppers to protect the frame and prevent the bench from sliding.
dumbbells
Dumbbells at the playground come in many different weights and sizes. Shown here is a 25-pound dumbbell being used for seated bicep curls. The dumbbells have solid steel heads with a urethane plating, so they will not damage flooring in the case of a drop. The handles are made of hardened chrome with medium grade knurling, which is easy to grip.
barbell
The barbell is designed to comply with training standards for powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting which means this bar is a great general use bar for anyone. The bar is made from machined stainless steel, has a high tensile strength shaft to support even the most intense lifters, and has medium grade knurling so it is easy to grip.
plates
The larger bumper plates are offered in a 25-pound and 45-pound option with a standard 450mm diameter to comply with International Weightlifting Federation standards. These plates are made with a steel insert and have a thick urethane rubberized surface so they can be dropped.
The smaller plates have a metal center with a rubber coating and come in 10-pounds, 5-pounds, and 2.5-pound options.
The color coding of the plates makes them easy to identify at a glance which helps gym members workout more efficiently.
adjusting the rack
The rack at the playground is easy to adjust, no more finicking with hard to use mechanisms. The height of the bar can be set in system preferences, so it automatically adjusts for you. This is especially convenient when working out with a friend, so the system can adjust the bar height in between your sets. Additionally, the safety arms on the bottom of the rack adjust automatically with each exercise.
sample screens
The mirrored interface allows for many interactions ranging from sample workouts, workout editing modes, a built-in social platform, adjustments for system preferences, profile information, a dashboard to start your workouts from, options to schedule workouts in advance, and an all inclusive start-up tutorial.
Note the screens are displayed with black backgrounds here but on the mirrored interface the black would be transparent.
the interface
This is a small sample of the options available with the mirrored interface.
The interaction
The mirrored interface works as both a touchscreen and with gestures from afar. This gives gym members the option of how to interact with the system.
in the making
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, I was unable to make a working scale model of my design. Instead, I learned about green screens and animation techniques. I taught myself After Effects for video compositing and animation. I learned Blender to track moving weights in video and then used that data to render animations of the weights in my system. All other renders were done in Keyshot and composited with the animated weights from Blender using After Effects. A big thanks to my sister, Michelle Posch, for being my video production assistant and modeling for the videos.
awards
During the 2020 DAAPworks show, playground was selected by a jury of IDSA members and UC alumni to win the IDSA DAAPworks first place prize!