Mojawa's new bone-conduction headphones have a built-in AI sports coach, and it looks like the future of fitness is here but Im not sold

Date:
Tue, 09 Jan 2024 14:37:08 +0000

Description:
Would you let an AI design your exercise plan? These Mojawa HaptiFit Terra headphones will do exactly that.

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Mojawa has unveiled a new set of bone conduction headphones at CES 2024 , and theyre packed with features including an AI sports trainer.

Together with a companion app, the bone conduction headphones built-in AI trainer is said to deliver automatically generated exercise plans along with heart rate, pace, step count, calories, swimming lap and distance, and other real-time notifications. Its aimed at runners, cyclists and swimmers, like
the rest of the best bone conduction headphones , leaving your ears open and free so you can hear sounds around you such as traffic and other pedestrians.

The device is also IP68 water resistant. Along with 32GB worth of onboard music storage, its sure to be some of the best waterproof headphones of this year. The onboard storage is ideal for swimmers, as Bluetooth doesnt conduct well underwater, but itll also do well for runners who may not always want to keep a phone on them to stream music from Spotify or have onboard storage on their best running watch.

The device is controlled through 3D pressure-sensitive haptic controls, presumably like the Fitbit Versa 3s haptic button. The Mojawa companion app will also allow users to control their music, lighting effects, full sport tracking, adaptive exercise plans, and more according to the press release from Mojawa. Presumably, there will be a feature similar to Garmin Connects recommended workouts here, that uses the statistics of your recent runs and recovery to recommend exercises it thinks you should be aiming for, or to
take it easy if youve exercised hard recently.

However, the element of AI here is interesting and slightly concerning with Mojawa promising to elevate workouts into complete training sessions with automatically generated exercise plans with vibration-based training
guidance. Were unsure exactly what this means for your training just yet:
does it alter your goals on the fly or generate training plans ahead of time? Will it vibrate to tell you to slow down or speed up, if you have a target pace in mind during an event like a marathon?

The headphones offer eight hours of battery life and a one-hour charge time. The device is available for pre-sale now at $199.99 / 239.99 and will retail for $299.99 in the US sometime in Q1 2024. UK prices for non-preorder purchases, and AU prices for either, are unknown. (Image credit: Mojawa) Analysis: Great looking headphones, but more AI we may not need

I love a lot about these headphones. Built-in storage? Great. Recommended workouts similar to Garmin? Cool, bring it on. Light-up segments for
low-light safety? Excellent. But do we need AI here?

The press release is quite vague on how AI is being used to recommend
workouts on the fly, but Mojawa isnt the first company to bring AI-powered workout recommendations in - Amazfit has already done something similar,
Apple is mulling it over , and I had a conversation with another producer at the IFA conference in September, who asked to remain nameless, about bringing AI workout planning into their smartwatches.

I dont believe AI-powered workout recommendations will bring great improvements to peoples health. An AI doesnt know about any potential
injuries you may have, your desire to leave a run untracked, or particular quirks about your body that may lead you to deviate from a plan. The more sophisticated workout tracking technology becomes, the more an AI can learn about these things, but its never something Ive wanted from my running tech.

In my heart of hearts, I'm quite cynical about AI, and its potential to be used as an invasive data collection tool. However, that doesnt change the
fact that the HaptiFit Terra looks like impressive gear, especially for swimmers, with the onboard storage and haptic controls being great for soundtracked pool work. Expect a full review nearer launch time.

Were covering all of the latest CES news from the show as it happens. Stick with us for the big stories on everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays
to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.

And dont forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor! You might also like... Audio-Technica's CES offering: chic, hi-res earbuds with LDAC streaming for less Gaming monitors are going to get even smoother thanks to the newly revealed G-Sync Pulsar LG OLED TVs are getting a Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode heres why its a big deal



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/health-fitness/mojawas-new-bone-conduction-headphone s-have-a-built-in-ai-sports-coach-and-it-looks-like-the-future-of-fitness-is-h ere-but-im-not-sold


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