Doing a Senpai (App)arel capture session

Put on your (App)arel following these instructions: https://asensei.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052817393

Open the asensei app and connect the (App)arel following these instructions: https://asensei.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052065634

If you haven't received your (App)arel yet you can do video-only capture sessions.

Now that you are wearing your (App)arel, have connected to the app and checked that your blue avatar is following your movements you can do a capture session.

Go to the Senpai menu (you may already be there having connected your (App)arel.  (From the 'up next' screen tap the 'hey asensei' button [+] at the bottom left of the screen and then choose 'Senpai')

What is a capture session and why should I do them?

Capture sessions perform several important functions. 

• Initial data capture essential for us to train asensei to coach a movement or exercise.
• Testing that asensei is correctly coaching movements or exercises.
• Providing remote coaching to our athletes.

A capture session collects both suit data and simultaneously video of a movement or exercise. Our team works with the data and video, in conjunction with experienced coaches to teach asensei how to recognise the movements, understand what a faulty movement looks like so asensei can watch for errors and understand the learning path from beginner towards mastery.

Capture sessions are a primary means to provide you with personalised coaching (both live where asensei has been trained to give the coaching or from human coaches who view the video and data created during a capture session).

If you want to help us teach asensei a new movement or exercise we will need to capture examples of that exercise from you, from other athletes and from coaches. The capture session is a way for you to give us examples of exercises that you would like us to build into asensei's repertoire. You don't need to be good at the exercise - it's actually helpful to us to collect examples of errors. When you do this sort of capture you use a "free form" capture. i.e. one that is not guided by asensei. It just captures the suit data and the video and uploads them to the asensei servers.

As we teach asensei an exercise we want to test that it is working as expected. Here we ask you to perform a "directed capture" where asensei will guide you as to what to do. As this is a draft of the exercise it may not yet work for everyone, or you might be making a mistake that our expert coaches hadn't anticipated or that we haven't yet built into asensei's understanding. So sometimes you'll be able to go through to complete the exercise and sometimes it won't work as expected. The failures are our best teacher; the exercises that don't work are the one's we are most interested in. So, when one of these fails for you, make sure you send us the upload data so we can teach asensei how to coach the exercise better.

Once asensei can coach the exercise we can build it into one of the workout programs that is available in the main part of the app and you and everyone else can be coached by asensei on that exercise.

We share your capture data and video with our experienced coaches and they can give you personalised feedback on your activity. What you did well, what could be improved and how to improve it. So, as well as you benefitting from this direct coaching we also take that feedback and build it into asensei so that asensei can give that feedback directly to everyone else who would benefit from it.

So, being part of the Senpai program means guiding our development in the sports and exercises you are interested in*, helping asensei learn to coach better and getting personalised feedback on your activity.

* we have a priority order of sports and exercises that we are working on. Your input will help inform that priority list. Due to the currently limitations of the size of our team we may not be able to work on your personal top priority in the near future. However, we will endeavour to help guide your practice with supplementary training exercises that are higher on our priority order so that you benefit from that supplementary training. We will, however, set up capture scripts to capture the exercises you want. So just contact us at [e-mail] and let us know which exercises you want to capture and we will endeavour to quickly create a capture script for you to use.

Setting up your capture environment

Captures consist of both (App)arel sensor data capture and video capture. You'll need to set up your iPhone or iPad so that your exercise will be properly captured on camera. You can use either the front facing or rear facing camera. Most people prefer to use the front facing camera so that when they are working out during the capture session they can see the screen so they know they are properly in the camera view.

It is best if you can to set up your iPhone or iPad on a tripod so that it is safe and stable and far enough away to ensure you are fully in the camera view with no obstacles between you and the camera. Ideally set the camera to give a clear view of the exercise you are doing. Move the camera between exercises if the next exercise needs a different camera angle.

Most important make sure your environment is safe to workout in, just as you would for any other exercise session. If you are in any doubt as to your environment being safe, err on the side of caution and don't workout or do a capture session until you are 100% sure that it is safe to do so.

Overview of a capture session

A capture session follows a capture script. The script is loaded into the app for you when you choose a capture session. The script has one or more scenes for you to record. Each scene comprises a single exercise or is of a set duration.

You can record each scene. If you are not happy with a particular recording you can choose not to save it at the end of the recording or after you press 'stop'.  You can do as many recordings of a scene as you want (each one is called a 'take' and you'll see the 'take number' increase as you do each recording for that scene).

You can go forward and backward between scenes to choose any scene in the script.

When you've finished a script (or partially finished) you'll have the option to upload your results. The video and (App)arel data will be uploaded to the asensei servers where asensei will process the results to help learn more about your movement.

There is a convenience feature called 'auto progression'. When switched on it will let you record all scenes in a script without having to touch the iPhone. You can turn this setting off if you want to have more control over the recording process. The default setting is off.

Running a capture session

1. On the Senpai menu choose 'Capture Session'

2. You'll see a list of available capture sessions to choose from. These will change from time to time and you'll be directed by asensei staff to the captures you should do. You are of course free to choose any and we encourage you to ask us to add more for exercises you are interested in capturing. We aim to make those available within a week of request (depending on how many requests we are getting). Once we have created the  specialised capture sessions for you to use, you can do the captures and other Senpai can join in and do captures for those too. Note: analysing the captures is a slightly longer term process so if your exercises are off our main development path we will take a while to get to them - please be patient.

The captures list screen looks like the one below. Tapping on a capture will download it, you'll see the progress bar go across to the right. When the progress bar is across to the right fully, the capture is ready to run. Tap on the one you want. If you are doing this for the first time the 'Squats' capture will do nicely. Initial scripts like the squat script may required a little knowledge of the exercise. The second iteration of capture scripts will add video introductions to make it clear what to do. Once you've done the capture you can let it upload to asensei (see below for how to do this) and contact us at [e-mail] so we can check it and give you some feedback on your set up.

3. When you've tapped on the capture you want to do you will see the capture screen. There is a blue avatar so you can see that asensei is able to watch your movement and a video camera to capture video of your movement.

In the picture below the video image is black. When you open this screen you'll see your video superimposed on this screen.

The blue avatar should be moving mirroring your movements. If it isn't you should go back to the sensor setup screen and make sure you've connected the (App)arel to the app correctly and done a 'sync sensors'. (If you are doing a video only capture without your suit then the avatar will not be moving - that's fine - you can just capture video).

4. Check that 'Auto Progression Off' is showing. Auto Progression is a more advanced feature that you can use once you've got used to doing one capture at a time. Auto Progression let's you get through a whole set of captures without having to touch the iPhone screen, but it does move at a crisp pace so the first few times you use the capture app you'll want to make sure auto progression is off so that things move at a more controlled and understandable rate.

5. Set up your environment: You need to make sure that the movements you do as part of the exercise you are going to capture are all visible in the video (head to toe and left to right). Your iPhone / iPad should be in landscape orientation. The best way to do this is to mount the iPhone or iPad on a tripod and use the facing camera view so that when you are standing in front of the camera you can see yourself on the screen and you can check that you'll be clearly visible throughout the exercise.

Make sure that you have space to do the exercise and that your environment is safe.

With 'Auto Progression Off' and your environment set up. You are now ready to record. 

What to expect during a recording:

Each scene recording is introduced in the following format.

a) asensei tells you to stand in the sync position (stand straight with your arms by your sides, palms facing your thighs). She counts down and tells you to stand still for the sync. This gives you a good amount of time to organise yourself to be in position before the end of the count down. Make sure you stand still until after she has finished saying stand still. asensei says, "Get ready to sync. Stand in the sync position and be ready in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Synching now. Stand still". (Note in some captures the exact wording and timing of this may vary. Just be sure to listen out for being told to stand in the sync position. If you miss the sync position you'll have to re-record).

b) asensei reads out the scene description so that you know what you are supposed to be doing. For example, "30 seconds basic squats.".

c) asensei reads out the take number. For example, "This is take one".

d) asensei counts you down to the start of the recording. After she finishes counting you in you can then go ahead and do the required exercise. asensei says, "Okay, read to record in 3, 2, 1".

Starting the recording:

To start the recording press the 'Record' button. 

The recording will proceed.

Ending the recording:

If it is a timed recording the recording will stop automatically at the end of the scripted duration. If you are doing a recognised recording exercise the recording will finish automatically when asensei sees you finish the exercise or after a timed duration if one has been set for that exercise.

If the recording doesn't stop automatically, or it is an open ended recording, you will have to press the 'stop' button manually. 

You can stop a recording at any time after it has started by pressing the 'stop' button.

At the end of the recording, if auto proceed is on the next scene will be cued up automatically and will start automatically. If auto proceed is off asensei will announce that the recording is being saved and will show a "save or discard" choice. If you were not happy with the recording you can choose discard. Mostly you should choose save (note we are actually most interested in the instances where things haven't worked than when they have - please save all instances where things didn't work - that's our fastest way to improve).

When the recording is finished asensei will save the video and data on the iPhone and then announce "Saving" and then"Save complete". If you don't want to save the recording and you have auto progression off, you can choose to discard the recording. If you want to keep it press save. If the scene is the last in the script she will add, "That's a wrap all scenes have been recorded."

Manually skipping to the next / previous scene:

The capture script consists of one or more scenes. 

You can skip to the next or previous scene by tapping the forward or back buttons next to the word Scene at the bottom left of the screen.

When you skip forward or back you should see the title and description of the scene at the top of the screen change so that you know which scene you are on.

When Auto Progression is On, the scene will automatically advance to the next scene as each recording is finished.

6. When all scenes are recorded tap the X at the top right and you will be given the option to upload your results. You should upload them. If you are absolutely sure that the recordings are not good and you really don't want to upload them then you can choose not to. Bear in mind that you won't get another chance to upload them (in the current version of the app - we plan to give you more control in a future app version).

The video and data files will upload in the background. DO NOT kill the app. You can switch to another app but you should leave the asensei app running and where possible stay connected to wifi to ensure the uploads have a chance to upload. It can take some time depending on your internet connection. 

What happens to the capture once it is uploaded? 

Development staff at asensei feed the captured data and video into asensei and check that asensei is recognising the things she has already learned and teach her to recognise new movements and postures.

Then we create new exercises and captures for you to do.

We also pass some video and data to our on-staff coaches who will give you selected feedback on your performance to help you improve.