For any devout yogis out there that also dabble in product development on the side, this one's for you. A
concept created by Hui-Zong Chen describes a snazzy yoga mat that not only allows you to relax your inner being and place yourself in all sorts of awkward positions, but also enables you to partake in yoga class remotely thanks to the built-in display. Moreover, the tube / mat case packs a set of
speakers and a flash-based music player, and we can only assume that a
WiFi antenna is in there somewhere for those interested in
streaming video classes to the head of the mat. Of course, we're not exactly sure how much "meditation" could actually ensue with all these enticing distractions around, but it's a novel idea regardless.
posted Aug 19th 2007 1:28AM
Virtual yoga classes? Oh, how far we have come....
i do have to wonder why your up at 1:30 in the morning posting on engadget. dont get me wrong i love reading new posts and all but it almost seems like you got nothing to do on a saturday night.. sigh o well.
o and i guess neither do i sense im posting on this too :)
Because most of the bars have closed, its raining out since this morning, the GF is in San Fran, and I'm a night owl.
What else can I do at work between the hours of 6pm and 6am???
yeah, and though im having really a problem writing, since im arriving home, im a bit drunk and i have nothing to do but reading stuff posted at really random hours... XD
i know this is just a concept design and all, and i'm a product designer myself, so i know how that goes...but come on, that just seems kinda unusable. i just took a yoga class on friday, and we pretty much used the whole mat. i think having a mat tethered to a giant "stereo tube" on an end is really going to hinder the user, not to mention 'downward facing dog" might have my hands or feet right on top of those embedded video displays.
9am on a sunday...you other guys got me beat.:)
this is dumb, d-u-m-m
yeah because yoga people are really into spending hundreds of dollars on a mat that you could theoretically get for free.
I love some of these conceptual designs. This is just so waaayyyyyy out there, if they're made available while I'm still alive, I swear I'll take up Yoga.
Elsie does a great yoga podcast that would go great with this mat. http://yogeekworkout.wordpress.com/
So I've come here 'cause I've gotten some incoming links from this post and I see that I've been mentioned.
Well. I do an audio yoga podcast and I feel that my podcast listeners would certainly enjoy. I've had them do my podcast with their ipods attached to themselves and feel that having my voice come out of the mat would prove to be pretty darn fantastic.
I would also use this mat at home. I don't think that I would want to carry this thing around with me to public classes or workshops but it would be a welcomed asset in my home. I love technology and see this as a wonderful addition to the technology of yoga.
There is at least one application that I know: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/20879, that you can download and have the mat ring a little sound to come out of meditation. How cool would that be?
Anyway, the video podcast metioned by Michelle in the post above is more about applying yoga philosophy, but in case you are interested in actual weekly live yoga classes, http://elsiesyogakula.com
This product is dangerous and should never been used by any REAL YOGIS. The pupose of our asana (postures) practice is not to watch anything, let alone a bloody video. This crap is the reason why so many would-be Yoga practicioners have no idea about what Yoga really is--the same people who go to class for 'exercise' are in analogy, 'using a nuclear bomb to crack open a walnut'