Sonar — Camera-Verified Reps
How the camera counts reps, why it's private, and how to set up.
For PlayersFor ParentsFor Coaches
What is Sonar?
Sonar turns your device's camera into a personal rep counter. Prop up a phone, tablet, or laptop, do your exercise, and Sonar counts every push-up, squat, and jumping jack for you — with a cheerful chime and a big on-screen number for every rep, hands-free. No wearables, no extra equipment, nothing to buy.
Just like a submarine's sonar "sees" shapes without taking pictures, our Sonar watches the shape of your movement — a simple stick-figure skeleton — not a video of you. It knows when a squat is deep enough, when a push-up bends far enough, and when a plank is flat enough. Good reps count; sloppy reps get a friendly coaching cue instead.
Reps counted by Sonar are verified — they power the fair-play parts of Deep Sea Dry Land: personal & team records and the treasure chests that come with them.
How a Sonar workout works
- Step 1: Prop up your deviceLean your phone or laptop against something stable so the camera can see you — about waist height works well. For most exercises you'll want enough room to step back so your whole body fits in the frame.
- Step 2: Follow the on-screen setup guideBefore anything starts, the app shows you exactly how to stand — including a reference photo of the correct stance — and gives live cues like "Step back — your feet are cut off" or "Move left." A body outline turns green when you're in position.
- Step 3: 3… 2… 1… Go!Once you hold the ready position for about a second, a beeping countdown starts. When it hits Go, the camera picture disappears and is replaced by your moving skeleton — that's Sonar's view of you.
- Step 4: Train — Sonar counts and coachesEvery clean rep is counted with a big on-screen number and cues like ARMS UP and RESET. If your form slips (say, push-ups from the knees), that rep simply doesn't count and a tip tells you why. Hold exercises like planks time you instead: stay in position and the clock climbs toward your target.
- Step 5: Results are saved — numbers onlyWhen you finish, only the results are saved: how many reps, how long you held, and when. These show up on your dashboard marked as Sonar-verified. No video, no photos — ever.
Two kinds of exercises
Rep exercises (push-ups, squats, jumping jacks…) count each full movement — some run to a target number, others count as many as you can in a set time. Hold exercises (plank, squat hold) ask you to stay in position for a target time — and the hold must be continuous: break the position and the clock starts over, so hold strong!
Why Sonar is safe and private
Sonar was designed for youth sports from day one, so privacy isn't a setting — it's the architecture. Here is exactly what happens with the camera, in plain English:
Video never leaves the device
All of the camera processing happens right on your phone or computer. The video is never uploaded, never sent to our servers, and never sent to anyone else.
Nothing is recorded
Sonar doesn't record video or take photos — not even temporarily. Each camera frame is measured and immediately discarded. There is no footage to leak, share, or hack.
Skeleton view, not camera view
During the workout the camera picture is hidden by default. Athletes see a friendly stick-figure skeleton of themselves — the same thing Sonar sees: 33 body points, no faces, no backgrounds, no bedrooms.
Only numbers are saved
The only thing stored is the result — rep counts, hold times, and timestamps. That's what appears on dashboards, progress charts, and records.
Sonar is completely separate from photo uploads (like profile pictures), which have their own protection: every uploaded image is AI-screened before anyone can see it. Read more in Athlete Safety.
Why athletes (and coaches) love it
Every rep is earned
Sonar counts honest reps for everyone the same way, so records and leaderboards mean something. No 'I definitely did 50' — the numbers are verified.
A coach in your corner
Live cues teach good form while you train: go deeper on squats, keep your body straight on push-ups. Sloppy reps don't count, so athletes learn to do them right.
Training feels like a game
Countdowns, beeps, big numbers, and a skeleton avatar make solo dryland training genuinely fun — and Sonar-verified personal records earn treasure chests.
Real progress you can see
Because every Sonar session is measured the same way, progress charts show true improvement over weeks and months — not guesses.
Works wherever you are
Living room, garage, driveway — if you can prop up a device, you can train. No gym, no equipment, no wearables.
Parents stay in the loop
Verified results roll into the parent dashboard automatically, so families see real training happen — without any cameras pointed at anyone's data.
Front-facing or side-facing? Here's the trick
Some exercises want you facing the camera, and some want you standing side-on (turned 90°, like the camera is watching your profile). There's a simple rule of thumb:
Face the camera when…
arms and legs go wide, you leave the ground, or you hold standing
Movements that spread out sideways — jumping jacks — or launch upward — high jumps, jump rope — read best head-on, where the camera can see both arms and both legs moving apart or the whole body rising. Standing holds like the squat hold face the camera too.
Stand side-on when…
your body folds or bends
Movements that hinge at the elbows, hips, or knees — push-ups, sit-ups, squats, planks — read best from the side, where the camera can see those joint angles. From the front, a deep squat and a shallow squat look almost identical; from the side, they're obviously different.
You never have to memorize this
Before every Sonar exercise, the app shows a photo of the correct stance with a big label — "Face the camera" or "Stand side-on to the camera" — and won't start the countdown until you're positioned correctly. The table below is just so you know what to expect.
Every Sonar exercise, at a glance
| Exercise | Camera stance | How to start | Pro tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jumping Jacks | Face the camera | Stand tall, feet together, arms at your sides. | Face the camera; keep your whole body — hands and feet — in frame. |
| High Jumps | Face the camera | Stand tall, ready to jump. | Face the camera a few feet back so your whole body stays in frame. Jump as high as you can. |
| Squat Hold | Face the camera | Stand tall — you'll drop into a squat and hold. | Face the camera. Drop into a squat (thighs ~parallel to the floor) and hold it. |
| Jump Rope | Face the camera | Rope in your hands, stand tall. Standing close is fine — waist-up works. | Face the camera — close up is fine, hips and shoulders in view. Quick little hops! |
| Push-ups | Stand side-on | Top of a push-up: arms straight, body in a straight line. | Point the camera from the side. Keep a straight line from shoulders to ankles — no knees, hips level. |
| Sit-ups | Stand side-on | Lie on your back, knees bent, feet flat. | Point the camera from the side. Lie back fully, then curl all the way up. |
| Squats | Stand side-on | Stand tall, feet shoulder-width apart. | Stand side-on to the camera a few feet back. Stand tall, then squat until your thighs are parallel. |
| Lunges | Stand side-on | Stand tall, feet together. | Face the camera or stand side-on. Step one leg forward and lower until your front knee bends ~90°. |
| Plank | Stand side-on | Forearms on the ground, body flat and level. | Get in a forearm plank — elbows on the ground, body flat and level — and hold. Film from the side. |
Tips for a great Sonar session
- Light from the front, not behind. A window or lamp behind you turns you into a silhouette. Face the light instead.
- Whole body in frame. For most exercises Sonar wants to see you head to toe — the setup guide will tell you to step back if your feet are cut off. (Jump rope is the exception: waist-up is fine, so you can stand close.)
- Stable device, roughly waist height. A chair seat, a step, or a low shelf beats holding it or laying it flat on the floor.
- Clear a little space. A couple of big steps in each direction is plenty — enough to spread your arms and hit the floor for push-ups.
- Wear regular workout clothes. Sonar doesn't care about colors, but very baggy hoodies can hide your elbows and knees from the tracker.
- One athlete at a time. Sonar tracks a single body — siblings and pets photobombing can confuse the count.
Sonar questions, answered
Is my child being filmed or watched?
No. The camera is processed entirely on the device, frame by frame, and each frame is discarded immediately. Nothing is recorded, nothing is uploaded, and no person (or company) can watch the camera. The only things saved are the rep counts and times.
What devices does Sonar work on?
Any reasonably modern phone, tablet, or computer with a camera and an up-to-date web browser. No app store download is required — it runs right in the browser.
Why didn't my rep count?
Sonar only counts complete, clean reps — a full squat, a full push-up, a full return to the start. If a rep doesn't count, watch for the on-screen cue: it usually says exactly what to fix (go deeper, straighten your body, get back in frame). That's a feature: it teaches the movement.
What if Sonar miscounts?
Every exercise has a strictness setting (strict / normal / lenient) that your coach can tune — younger athletes often use a more forgiving setting. If counts consistently feel off, tell your coach: they can test any exercise themselves with the coach Test button and adjust it. And when we improve the counting engine, old and new results are kept in separate "eras" so your records always compare fairly.
Does Sonar work for goalies / with sticks or ropes?
Sonar tracks the body, so handheld gear is fine — jump rope is a supported exercise. What matters is that your joints are visible to the camera in the recommended stance.
Do Sonar results count for records and treasure?
Yes — that's the point! Sonar-verified results are the main way to set personal and team records, and new records come with treasure chests. Typed-in numbers never set records — only verified ones do.