▲ Kinetic Lab / CEO Han Man-hyung

(PowerKorea) Artificial intelligence probably was one of the hottest words appeared on the media alongside the pandemic last year. Without us realizing, AI is delving deep into our daily lives from internet and transport to education, medical services, automotive, security and culture today.

Meanwhile, Korean culture has made a strong presence and recognition in the world thanks to globally recognized musicians, film directors and actors. A South Korean company Kinetic Lab focused on this and is trying to graft AI motion recognition technology with the global K-Pop and K-Dance wave.

When asked foreigners what pops up when they hear Korea, most of them said K-Pop unlike our expectations like cutting edge tech, smart phones and nuke of the North. Talking of K-Pop, K-Dance automatically emerges on the table of the chat. Cover dances synchronized with Korean songs are countless on Youtube whether they are Koreans or foreigners. 

Zling, the wearable developed by Kinetic Lab, was designed and introduced for these people to have an ultimate cover dance experience. And it works like this: wear Zling on your wrist – dance like the dance on the screen of your smart phone – the 6 axis sensors detect your motion and give rates. If the DDR and PUMP in the past gave rhythm for you to step the floor, Zling senses each movement of your body and brings up the score when the dance is done. All you need is your smart phone and Zling to do this. Up to 8 people can dance in group if you have a large screen to see together.

Zling might be similar to Just Dance but it has more new songs. Around 5 new songs are added every month to catch the latest trend. Han Man-hyung, CEO of Kinetic Lab, made this possible by showing only the dance images without the song which the user purchase to download on their smart phone. In other words, Zling is free of copyright of the songs which normally is allowed to be used in games and such at least after a year of its release. When playing Zling, it finds the song in the user’s smart phone and synchronizes it. 

“If someone dance, most people know whether he or she is good. So the score should better be calculated based on this common view and judgement. I and my team spent 2 years to build the near precise objective scoring system. So the more similar to the original movement of the artists on the screen the more scores are given. What is more? Zling offers a variety of song choices from pop to children’s songs” explains Han.

Kinetic Lab is a startup set sail in 2016 with its motion sensing technology that can be applied to various areas such as wearables, home training, yoga, pilates and many more. In fact, Kinetic Lab has undertaken a number of government projects related to behavioral patterns of elderlies living alone and primates’ motion cognition. The ssang ssang dance in the LG U+ children also is the work of Kinetic Lab: starting with around 20 songs, Han is making a deal with U+ at the moment to add more songs thanks to the explosive respond from children and parents.

“We are planning to work on cloud funding home and abroad and to expand the platform to a variety of cultural contents including idol goods in the world. It is our goal to grow our business as a global cultural contents creator in cooperation with large entertainment agencies in the world. We expect our Zling will receive a global recognition on the way to achieve that.”

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