Physicist turned tech entrepreneur, Raj Sareen, explains how his 3D body scanner Styku will revolutionise member acquisitions, retention and revenues for your health club

What’s your background?
I was a physicist who also worked at NASA and spent a few of my post-grad years researching extra-solar planets – basically hunting planets around other stars.

But as much as I love science, I felt an urge to build something more tangible. My mother and father are both successful entrepreneurs, having created a very successful CAD software for clothing design that’s used worldwide today. I joined them to learn more about software development and running a business.

What was your next step?
While there, I started a personal innovation lab. The first idea I had was to hack together an inexpensive body scanner. While there were a few products on the apparel market, they were very expensive and clunky.

I could see the potential for offering body measurements in a non-invasive way, and so started to research how we could make this a good experience for people, make the data accurate and offer a product at an affordable cost.

How did you develop Styku?
My first attempt involved 21 off-the-shelf webcams. I wrote the software myself and at 0.87 seconds, it was effectively the world’s fastest scanner. But it was also a behemoth and not something I wanted to commercialise. Shortly after, Microsoft launched the world’s first affordable commercial 3D sensor – the Kinect.

We hacked into the Kinect camera and turned it into a scanning device. Microsoft took notice. Initially, they warned we were breaking their licensing agreements. I have to admit, we carried on regardless, and a few months later they contacted us again to say that actually, they loved what we were doing and wanted to work with us!

That led to us being chosen as one of 11 companies, from 500 applicants, to spend three months at Microsoft’s incubator for Techstars in Seattle.

Was that where Styku was born?
Effectively yes. They taught us how to fail fast and we soon realised the apparel market was not ready for this type of product – at least not yet.

But once we turned our attention to the health and fitness market – creating an algorithm for measuring body composition and body fat percentage using circumference measurements – everything just fell into place. We knew we had a value proposition for health clubs.

Can you describe the product?
Styku consists of a computer, turntable and a vertical unit that houses a 3D scanner. The whole kit only weighs around 17kg and is portable – making it ideal for PTs and for use at one-off fitness events as a sales or educational tool. However, most clubs will find a home for it in their facility and use it as a consistent part of their membership experience.

People hate to be measured with callipers – they’re so intrusive. With Styku, members simply stand on the turntable and within 30 seconds the scanner has taken a whole range of highly accurate body measurements, which are then interpreted by the software.

Even the world’s best tailors can only measure accurately to half an inch – Styku measures to 1/16th of an inch, and records the same points every time, so accurate comparisons can be made.

Why should a health club invest in Styku?
Styku is so powerful because clients can see an instant image of themselves in 3D – which is much more objective than a photograph or looking in the mirror. Moreover, the data we provide is far richer than a consumer wearable or a bathroom scale could ever provide.

Most people who visit a health club say they want to lose weight, but what they mean is they want to lose body fat. This can often lead to great disappointment as they follow a workout programme and see little change on the scales.

Of course, their bodies are shrinking and regardless of an instructor’s efforts to educate them on this, there’s nothing more motivating than seeing the changes reflected back as a real image. Styku is able to lay one scan on top of another to give a very accurate before and after image.

Clients are so motivated they start to work harder to look good for their next scan!

What support do you offer?
We don’t want Styku to be just another piece of equipment that sits in the gym forgotten after a period of time. It’s a very effective business tool for clubs that will help them with member acquisitions, retention and sales revenues.

It’s particularly valuable as a PT tool. This is an area where clubs have an opportunity to become very profitable, but where many of them fail.

Our software is able to interpret the data and help gyms create personalised exercise programmes based on clients’ goals. Clubs can use Styku to engage and motivate – so instead of members just paying their usual fees, they’re actually happy to invest thousands of pounds a year in their transformation and see measured results.

Also, when a gym purchases Styku, we offer them unlimited support and online training to help them turn their scanner into a profit centre. If used correctly, clubs should start to see a return on their investment in just six weeks.

What’s next for Styku?
After officially launching at IHRSA 2015, we’re now in 23 countries, and have just appointed React Fitness as our exclusive UK distributor. We chose them because of their 20 years of experience and in-depth knowledge of the fitness market, and the fact that we share the same value system.

3-1-5 Health Club in Lancaster is the first gym to offer Styku in the UK along with Bodystreet Studio in Milton Keynes. As we talk to all the main fitness brands, Styku will start to become an integral part of the fitness journey in the UK.

Looking further ahead, we see Styku expanding beyond fitness to become an amazing tool that everyone can use to enhance their lifestyle. Whether it’s getting a scan at your GP surgery, or using a scan to shop for clothes, the possibilities are endless, and Styku’s journey is just beginning.