Nautilus acquires ETH spin-off Vay

The US company Nautilus Inc. is taking advantage of the expertise on offer from the network around the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). According to a press release, it has agreed a deal to acquire the start-up Vay, which has developed a technology that allows computers to understand human movements in real time. For this, it deploys a combination of a camera, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human expertise.

Nautilus, a provider of fitness products, intends to integrate the solution in its range. The Vay development allows, for example, the number of exercises performed to be automatically counted, while also supporting the correct execution of movements and increasing the personalization of training regimes in general.

“This acquisition directly supports our aim to continue evolving into a more digital company and helps us advance our software development capabilities”, comments Jim Barr, CEO of Nautilus, in the press release. The Vay team will therefore also be integrated in the software development division of Nautilus.

Nautilus also points out that Vay will continue to maintain a partnership with ETH Zurich, which it describes in the press release as “one of the top science and technology universities in the world”. The partnership will additionally be expanded by way of a collaboration with the ETH AI Center and the founding of a dedicated competence center for personalized fitness, the press release states.