Robotic swim buddy Swimoid snaps your stroke from below

Read NewScientist

NOT feeling your front crawl? Breaststroke a little off-kilter? Not to worry, a robotic swimming buddy can help you out.

Swimoid is a robot that glides along the pool floor underneath you as you swim, monitoring your form and providing real-time feedback on a 50-centimetre LCD screen.

Two cameras, one built into the front and one at the back of the robot, capture images of your stroke from below. A poolside coach can view these images on the screen and draw instructional diagrams over them for the swimmer to see as they swim – much like a football pundit does on television.