Anonymizing at-home fitness: enhancing privacy and motivation with virtual reality and try-on

Introduction: This study aimed to address privacy concerns associated with video conferencing tools used in home-based exercise training. To that end, a method that could anonymize participants' appearances and exercise environments during at-home fitness sessions was proposed. Methods: This method combines virtual reality for 3-D human-model rendering using key-points tracking with a virtual try-on system enhanced by UV mapping and instance segmentation. To validate the proposed method, we conducted a user study by recruiting participants to assess effectiveness of virtual reality and virtual try-on in terms of privacy protection, self-confidence, and coaching satisfaction. Results: Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness and improved user experience of using virtual reality or virtual try-on in remote fitness, particularly in enhancing privacy protection and self-confidence with statistical significance. However, no significant differences were noted in coaching satisfaction. Discussion: These findings confirmed the efficacy of our proposed approach. We believe that the proposed approach can significantly contribute to the future of remote fitness training, offering a more secure and engaging environment for users, thereby potentially increasing adherence to fitness regimens and overall physical wellbeing.