Can the modern technology of AI benefit the ancient practice of yoga? Yogananth Andiappan, a second-generation yoga master and fixture of Hong Kong’s wellness scene, says yes.
The 44-year-old, who opened the Anahata Yoga Studio in 2007 and the non-profit centre Andiappan Yoga Community in 2010, both in Central, is expanding his online yoga platform by integrating AI into its functionality to help provide more personalised feedback than other similar apps.
Andiappan has used AI to analyse over 1,000 yoga poses for his Yogi.live platform, generating comprehensive descriptions covering anatomy, modifications and therapeutic applications to help users perform them correctly.
It also has a built-in “AI yoga research assistant” that lets students and instructors ask questions about yoga for specific health conditions, injuries and wellness goals and helps connect them to evidence-based studies for further reading.
Users can even upload a photo of themselves in a pose for the AI to analyse and give advice on how to correct or adjust it. (Andiappan assures the South China Morning Post that any images users upload for analysis will not be integrated into the AI data set.)
Subscriptions to the online platform and mobile app cost US$10 (HK$78) for a monthly plan or US$100 for an annual one. Through those plans, users can also access yoga videos and live-streamed classes. With the help of AI, Andiappan says the English videos will soon be available in Mandarin and Cantonese as well.