SmartGym – Every Citizen’s #1 Fitness Lifestyle Companion

Overview

Singapore’s vision of building a Smart Nation, coupled with the growing trend of more Singaporeans investing time in exercising and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, was the inspiration behind SmartGym. GovTech’s Sensors and Internet of Things (SIOT) team started development of SmartGym in 2019 and first deployed SmartGym in mid-2020. SmartGym provides users with essential personal fitness data such as running speed, number of repetitions done, and calories burned to allow individual ownership of their fitness journeys. Regardless of your fitness level or age, SmartGym aims to be every citizen’s #1 Fitness Lifestyle Companion.

What is SmartGym?

SmartGym is a holistic fitness data platform that provides users with fitness insights measured through a series of connected sensors built into gym equipment. These sensors are currently installed on three types of gym equipment: 1) weight stack machines, 2) treadmills and 3) weighing machines. SmartGym equipment is currently deployed in three community gyms across Singapore – Our Tampines Hub, Jurong East and Heartbeat @ Bedok.

Weight Stack Machines

The SmartGym sensors are installed within the covers of the weight stack exteriors, are visible to users and help detect the weights lifted to accurately compute the number of repetitions done.

Treadmill

Treadmill sensors are located on the exterior of the machine and help to measure running speeds through markers present on the user’s belt. SmartGym also utilises a motion sensor to detect inclination. The sensors are placed in a non-intrusive manner with small modifications to ensure that they can be fitted onto different types of treadmills from different manufacturers. The sensors are also able to track the distance covered by the user, as well as the total altitude gained throughout the run. The exercise data from the weight stack machine and treadmill sensors can also be combined to calculate the number of calories burned.

SmartGym weighing scale

The SmartGym team has also made enhancements to weighing scales. First-time users will be asked to input their date of birth and height into our system, while repeat users simply have to log in. The weighing scale will measure the user’s weight and collect other body metrics such as body fat percentage and muscle mass. This data can be accessed via the Kiosk Console at ActiveSG gyms for now, but will be made available through the ActiveSG app in future.

How Will SmartGym Benefit Users?

Where SmartGym separates itself from regular gym equipment is its ability to accurately monitor and store users’ data. In a typical gym, fitness equipment can only display workout information while it is being used and the information does not get stored thereafter. In contrast, SmartGym stores workout information that can be viewed at any time at any of the three SmartGym kiosks.

SmartGym equipment also help users track their progress. SmartGym provides extensive information on users’ workouts in a single page and allows information to be sorted by date and exercise type for monitoring of fitness progress. Furthermore, gym equipment across ActiveSG gyms that utilise SmartGym are interoperable. This means workouts are recorded even if a user visits different SmartGyms across Singapore. In order to access one’s workout history and previous body-metric data, users can visit any of the SmartGym kiosks located at any one of the three ActiveSG gyms as mentioned above.

How Do You Use SmartGym?

Each machine comes with a screen that displays workout information relevant to the equipment such as number of reps, calories burned, speed, and distance. To start using the SmartGym equipment, scan the QR code on the ActiveSG app to link your account to the equipment and the SmartGym sensors will track your exercise and store workout information. Thereafter, you can view all your workout information at the SmartGym kiosks.

Success Stories

• There are currently 16 treadmills, six weight stack machines, and three weighing machines deployed across three community ActiveSG gyms in Singapore. As of May 2021, there have been more than 1,500 SmartGym users.
• To promote SmartGym, the team has also launched a campaign in the first quarter of 2021 at Heartbeat @ Bedok. This campaign was a collaboration with ActiveSG, where users could undertake a daily challenge by completing a set of exercises based on three difficulty levels. Users can start off with level 1 and work their way to level 3 through this challenge. The difficulty of the exercises was proportional to the number of reps or duration. At the end of each level, users could claim rewards such as bandanas and ActiveSG towels for completing level 1, drawstring bags for completing level 2 and facemasks for completing level 3. The challenge and reward system contributed to over 80% of exercises during the campaign month as it strongly incentivized SmartGym usage.

What’s Next?

The SmartGym team is continuously exploring ways to achieve higher-quality fitness services by incorporating new products and advancing the SmartGym systems such as through the implementation of an upcoming app that allows users to access workout information.

Contact Us

Meet the Team!

Interns:

• Alphonsus Ho, National University of Singapore (NUS), Double Major in Mechanical Engineering and Innovation & Design
• Aveek Goswami, Imperial College London, Bachelor’s in Biomedical Engineering
• Aw Kang Jie, Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and DigiPen Institute of Technology, Bachelor’s in Systems Engineering in Electromechanical Systems
• Cheryl Ng, NUS, Bachelor’s in Computer Science (University Scholar’s Programme)
• Daniel Fung, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Dharmil Shah, Imperial College London, Master’s in Electrical and Electronics Engineering
• Keith Lim, NTU, Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering (BEng) and Master’s in Technology Management (MS)
• Kianne Lim, NUS, Bachelor’s in Industrial Design
• Lim Xuan Hao, NUS, Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering
• Rachel Ang, SIT and DigiPen Institute of Technology, Bachelor’s in Systems Engineering in Electromechanical Systems
• Tan Ding Hao, NTU, Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
• Xu Ruochen, Imperial College London, Bachelor’s in Electronic and Information Engineering
• Zhang Hengkai, NTU, Bachelor’s in Computer Engineering

Last updated 19 August 2022

---