Detection Tuning

If exercises aren't counting correctly, you can tune the detection parameters.

Common Issues

Not Counting Reps

Symptoms: You do the exercise but reps don't increment.

Causes:

• Thresholds too strict
• Poor lighting
• Camera angle wrong
• Body not fully visible

Solutions:

1. Check camera can see your full body
2. Improve lighting
3. Adjust thresholds in the exercise JSON config (~/.vibereps/exercises/squats.json):

{
  "detection": {
    "thresholds": {
      "down": 130,  // Increase to make easier (default: 120)
      "up": 145     // Decrease to make easier (default: 150)
    }
  }
}

Double Counting

Symptoms: One rep counts as 2 or more.

Causes:

• Thresholds too close together
• Movement too fast
• Jittery pose detection

Solutions:

1. Increase gap between down/up thresholds in the JSON config:

{
  "detection": {
    "thresholds": {
      "down": 110,  // Lower = stricter "down" detection
      "up": 160     // Higher = stricter "up" detection (bigger gap = less jitter)
    }
  }
}

2. Move slower and more deliberately through the exercise motion.

Wrong Exercise Detected

Symptoms: System thinks you're doing a different movement.

Solutions:

• Position camera for the specific exercise (front for jumping jacks, side for push-ups)
• Ensure only one exercise is active at a time

Debugging

Log Landmark Values

Add console logging to see raw values:

function detectSquat(landmarks) {
  const angle = calculateAngle(
    landmarks[23], // left hip
    landmarks[25], // left knee
    landmarks[27]  // left ankle
  );

  console.log('Knee angle:', angle, 'State:', exerciseState);

  // ... rest of detection logic
}

Visualize Landmarks

The UI already draws pose landmarks. Enable visibility labels:

// In the draw function
ctx.fillText(`${i}: ${landmark.visibility.toFixed(2)}`, x, y);

Check Confidence

Filter low-confidence detections:

if (landmarks[25].visibility < 0.5) {
  // Knee not visible enough, skip frame
  return;
}

Advanced Tuning

EMA Smoothing

Reduce jitter with exponential moving average:

let smoothedAngle = 0;
const SMOOTHING = 0.3; // 0 = no smoothing, 1 = max smoothing

function getSmoothedAngle(rawAngle) {
  smoothedAngle = SMOOTHING * smoothedAngle + (1 - SMOOTHING) * rawAngle;
  return smoothedAngle;
}

Body-Scale Normalization

Normalize distances by shoulder width:

function getShoulderWidth(landmarks) {
  const left = landmarks[11];  // left shoulder
  const right = landmarks[12]; // right shoulder
  return Math.sqrt(
    Math.pow(left.x - right.x, 2) +
    Math.pow(left.y - right.y, 2)
  );
}

// Use relative thresholds
const threshold = 0.1 * getShoulderWidth(landmarks);

Per-Exercise Tips

Exercise	Camera Position	Common Issue	Fix
Squats	Front or side	Not deep enough	Lower down threshold
Push-ups	Side view	Arms not visible	Adjust camera angle
Jumping Jacks	Front view	Arms not high enough	Lower arm threshold
Calf Raises	Side view	Small movement	Lower heel threshold