MuscleTech Augmented Reality Brings Product Education

Far from being content to white-label the same products and ingredients as so many others do in the industry, the visionaries at MuscleTech like to surf on the cutting edge.

MuscleTech is using a high-tech Augmented Reality (AR) platform to educate consumers about their new enfinity-fueled iQ series!

Back in August, we wrote about the release of MuscleTech’s iQ Series. Comprised of EuphoriQ, Burn iQ Smart Thermo Powder, and Burn iQ Smart Thermo Capsules, the series took stimulant-based pre-workouts into a new era, thanks to a caffeine replacement known as enfinity, made from paraxanthine.

Now they’re back with some more cyberpunk technology, but in this case, it is meant to be taken visually instead of orally:

MuscleTech Launches an Augmented Reality (AR) Experience

MuscleTech has released a complete augmented reality (AR) experience, allowing users to learn about their formulas, access free workouts, and more in an interactive, futuristic experience. It’s as cool as it is informative.

Below, we dig into the newly-released AR experience, and then do a quick rundown of the iQ Series and what makes it so unique. First, let’s take a look at PricePlow for some MuscleTech deals:

The Next Step: Augmented Reality?

At the store and see a tub of MuscleTech Burn iQ or EuphoriQ? Point you camera at it and let’s go!

Supplement companies aren’t generally known for their participation in the frontiers of digital innovation. That said, MuscleTech had the gall to dethrone caffeine as stimulant prime, so it only makes sense that they’d take another leap into the future: MuscleTech’s iQ Series now supports augmented reality.

What is augmented reality?

Augmented reality (AR) is a technology that allows users to view and interact with digital information in reference to objects in the real world. By superimposing images and video onto the user’s view of the physical world, AR is able to create the illusion that this digital information is a part of the physical world.

Whereas virtual reality (VR) creates a fully simulated digital environment, AR melds the two together to create a hybrid experience. AR is, of course, a relatively young technology, but some companies are beginning to tinker around with it for everything from full AR games to content delivery.

The MuscleTech iQ Series Augmented Reality Experience

Here’s how it works: there’s a QR code on each tub of EuphoriQ and BurniQ, as well as on the MuscleTech website. On your phone, scan that code, and you will be redirected to a new site.

Watch our MuscleTech AR Demo or keep reading:

It’ll take a second to load, probably due to it being super fancy and high-tech. Once it does, it’ll ask you for camera access. Tap yes, and this is when the fun begins.

The product explorer is where we went first – these screenshots show Burn iQ, but you can also learn about EuphoriQ

Your screen will display your camera’s view of what’s in front of you like normal, but overlaid on top will be a menu. The way the perspective changes on the menu as you tilt and move your phone feels pretty trippy for anyone who’s never used this tech before.

There are four menu items:

• Workouts
• Products
• Discounts
• Results

You can tap your screen to run through each option, bringing up new graphics and screens. Spin the tubs around in the Products section to look at ingredients, benefits, and more. Tap the Workouts section to browse some free workout routines. Get access to a sweet discount on MuscleTech products in the Discounts section.

Try it out – this is really cool and we can see it as the future of product education!

Paraxanthine: caffeine’s heir?

Instead of falling back on good ol’ caffeine, MuscleTech used enfinity as the backbone of their iQ formulas. Enfinity is a pure form of paraxanthine, and it’s probably the biggest thing to happen in the pre-workout space since… well, caffeine.

Hey, it’s Shawn Wells, the creator of enfinity – He and MuscleTech’s Raza Bashir joined the PricePlow Podcast for Episode #072 to talk about this launch and why it’s so great ot use enfinity Paraxanthine instead of caffeine!

When caffeine is metabolized in the liver, it leads to three metabolites: paraxanthine, theobromine and theophylline. As such, all three have similar effects on the body as caffeine: with increased alertness and improved cognitive function being the two primary benefits.

As caffeine’s most potent metabolite, paraxanthine mimics the familiar energizing effects. However, it has a shorter half-life than caffeine, clocking in at just 3.7 hours instead of caffeine’s general half-life of 4.1 hours.

Paraxanthine has been shown to be a potent fat-burning agent, as well as adenosine antagonist. Paraxanthine is the primary source of the dopamine upregulation experienced with caffeine. This is the metabolite whose effects we’re really most interested in.

Why take paraxanthine over caffeine?

The other two metabolites of caffeine – theobromine and theophylline – have significantly longer half-lives than paraxanthine. This leads to many of the classic side effects of caffeine: from sleep disruption and that anxious, jittery feeling so familiar with caffeine consumption.

Paraxanthine appears to route around those side effects and provide solid, smooth energy.

Want to learn more? Listen to Raza Bashir of MuscleTech and Shawn Wells of ING2 in PricePlow Podcast #072, an episode where Shawn explains the nitty-gritty and we talk about how much cleaner of an experience this is!

MuscleTech iQ Series Rundown

Currently, the three formulas that compose MuscleTech’s iQ series are EuphoriQ Pre-Workout and Burn iQ Smart Thermo – which comes in drink powder and capsule variations. Here’s a summary of the ingredients:

• EuphoriQ Pre-Workout

  EuphoriQ is a pre-workout supplement that is caffeine-free but not stimulant-free, which seems like an incredibly odd thing to say in this industry, but not anymore. Caffeine has been the go-to stimulant on the market for decades. With the introduction of paraxanthine as an ingredient, this is no longer the case.

  

  A look at the EuphoriQ label

  In EuphoriQ, each scoop contains 300 milligrams of enfinity, backed up by staple pre-workout ingredients like l-citrulline (4 grams), beta-alanine (3.2 grams), and betaine anhydrous (2.5 grams).

  

  Touch different parts of the product, get different bits of information!

  Another fantastic addition to EuphoriQ is nooLVL, a patented nootropic nitric oxide enhancement supplement formulated by Nutrition21. We’ve seen nooLVL in many gaming-centric supplements, but we love to see it take a supporting role in pre-workouts as well for its cognitive-boosting ability and role in blood flow improvement.

  To enhance the cognitive-booster properties of EuphoriQ, MuscleTech added some classics like alpha-GPC as a choline source and l-tyrosine to provide a neurotransmitter boost.

  All-in-all, EuphoriQ is a superb and unique pre-workout formulation, and it’s worth the try. After months of use now, we can say that this is a cleaner workout experience, and once you are used to it, going back to caffeine simply feels… dirtier.

  It’s well worth the try, and MuscleTech really changed the game with this one.

  You can read more in our article titled MuscleTech EuphoriQ: The Smart Pre-Workout with enfinity Paraxanthine.

• Burn iQ Smart Thermo

  Burn iQ Smart Thermo is again formulated around enfinity, but optimized more for fat-burning effects. Each scoop contains half the dose of enfinity as EuphoriQ (150 milligrams vs. 300 milligrams) to make room for various ingredients intended to get the fat ready to burn, and allow you to space out up to three scoops in an entire day. A full dosage is two scoops at a time, though.

  

  L-carnitine L-tartrate (LCLT) has been included with a hefty 1.5g dose to get the fat moving to the mitochondria so it can burn. Also included are traditional, popular weight loss ingredients like coleus extract, grains of paradise extract, phenylcapsaicin, and black pepper extract to act as a potentiator for everything else.

  To read about the Burn iQ Smart Thermo Powder, you can read our article titled MuscleTech Burn iQ Thermo Powder: The Smarter Way to Burn Fat.

  Don’t forget the capsule option!

  

  Burn iQ can be tried in either powder or capsule form, allowing you to choose how you get your burn on. To save space, the capsule formulation has less carnitine. Each capsule contains 100 milligrams of enfinity, so a full dosage is three capsules worth.

Conclusion: An opt-in opportunity for more education

There’s also a Workouts area of the app – this image is from the stretching section

Phrases like “AI” or “augmented reality” carry a lot of baggage with them, both good and bad. On the one hand, we are in awe of the advancements in digital technology over such a relatively short period. We get futuristic images of the The Jetsons or Star Trek stirring around in our minds.

On the other hand are the somewhat frightening implications of some technology pushed towards us. Most of us grew up watching movies like The Terminator or The Matrix, in which humanity was engulfed by their own technological creations, forced to live under an oppressive artificially intelligent overlord or in a simulated environment entirely.

What we like about AR is that it’s opt-in — you choose to point your camera at the product’s QR code and to send it to the browser — and it gives us a chance for more education, which is ultimately our goal at PricePlow. All the better if the education is localized at the product itself.

The risks of finding ourselves in the dystopian virtual reality world depicted in the Matrix aside, this application of augmented reality by a supplement company is creative and fun. It’s a great way to convey information, and we could see it becoming a potent content-delivery system. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll see some awesome PricePlow content pop up over top of your kitchen table as you mix yourself a protein shake.