Karma Yoga studio provides people with streaming services so they can exercise from their own home

About the project

People can’t always fit in their weekly yoga lesson and it’s often difficult to reschedule them. In addition, the present situation and measures due to the Covid-19 pandemic are putting the operation of these courses in jeopardy. Karma Yoga studio in Prague’s Vinohrady offers up to 70 yoga lessons per week, educates future teachers, and organizes various events. That’s why they wanted to make it possible for people to exercise even when they can’t come to the studio in person. The primary requirement was to find a simple solution that would allow the studio to provide on-line lessons as soon as possible, allowing people to exercise from home.

“Although we’re placing the utmost emphasis on the hygiene and safety of our customers, people are becoming more and more afraid to come to the courses. In addition, there’s a danger that our operations will be curbed by the government like in the spring of 2020. Remote on-line lessons are a solution for us to avoid losing our pre-paid courses and allow us to operate despite the measures that are affecting us,” says Veronika Carmanová, owner of Karma Yoga studio. In order to do so, they’ve used the simple streaming solution from NetRex, a local CamStreamer reseller., which allows them to stream live directly to YouTube.

Technical solution

Streaming solution from CamStreamer consists of an AXIS M1135, which ensures a high-quality image in FullHD resolution. Audio is wirelessly transmitted directly to the camera via a RØDE Wireless Go microphone attached to the teacher’s clothing.

The CamStreamer App is installed on the camera and sends the online broadcast directly to YouTube’s streaming platform without the use of other devices or computers. The streaming set can be operated with an auxiliary button with light signalization. The on-line stream can be launched by pressing a button; an LED then lights up, informing the teacher that he/she is broadcasting. The teacher ends the stream by pressing the button again. No training is necessary, so the solution is suitable for less-technically oriented individuals as well. All videos are automatically saved to YouTube’s archive and can be replayed later (if this option is chosen in the settings). The teacher can make them public or send a non-public link only to those clients who have paid for the lesson. Simple playlists can be created in YouTube and videos can be sorted according to individual types of lessons.

“For smaller studios where only a few lessons are being organized, the option with the connected button is really simple. We hold up to 70 lessons a week in our studio and we also have a receptionist there the whole time. That’s why CamStreamer’s staff has set up a different way for us to control the streams. The camera’s simple interface is opened on the receptionist’s computer, and he/she can launch a non-public stream to our YouTube channel with the click of a button when the teacher begins the lesson and then end the stream with just one click as well. Then, the recording is entered into the relevant playlist of the given course. All participants are sent a unique link to the stream of the given course to their email addresses one hour in advance. Those who don’t arrive to the lesson can simply replay the stream on YouTube (on their computers, tablets or television). These are non-public videos, so only those who have a private link can view it,” Carmanová explains

Conclusion

Karma Yoga studio has effectively used the solution to replace lessons that clients couldn’t otherwise attend. This, however, wasn’t the only benefit: “We were able to effectively limit the number of people who wanted their money returned for uncompleted courses. We now also have a completely new way to offer our courses to people in the future,” Carmanová added. The studio is also planning to take this streaming set with them on yoga weekends, which they organize around the world. It’s a great way to provide people with live yoga lessons, even from a sandy beach or other exotic location.

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Video Quality	FullHD - 1080p
Audio	External audio Microphone RØDE Wireless Go
Camera model	AXIS M1135 Network Camera
ACAP applications	CamStreamer App
Streaming platforms	YouTube
Location	Prague, Czech Republic