Live Rowing is looking to make practicing this sport indoors more interesting, TechCrunch is reporting. This startup has created a special device that monitors user’s rowing progress while exercising at home or in the gym, and a companion app that gets the readouts from the machine to stack users against each other. This way, according to Nick Sheedy who founded the company, the indoor sport is more entertaining and will thus entice more exercise.

Using the mobile app, rowers are able to go boat-to-boat in a racing challenge, see how they stack up in time, as well as get a glimpse on other details such as distance passed and calories burned.

Using the mobile app, rowers are able to go boat-to-boat in a racing challenge and see how they stack up in time.The setup involves the Connect2 Rower monitor, and the LiveRowing Connect hooked up with Apple Lightning cable to the iPhone. The device can then pick up data from a digital display and relay the information back to the app.

The social element should make the indoor rowing more bearable for those struggling to discipline themselves for what may seem as a dull sport. Pricing details are still missing, though.

Also worth adding – rowing is not the only sports that could benefit from modern technologies. Another startup, called Zwift, is aiming to do something similar with indoor bicycle training.