From Digital Twins to Smart Yoga Mats: AI’s Next Healthcare Frontier Unveiled in Bengaluru

AI-powered clinical assistants, virtual surgical training, smart yoga mats, personalised genomics and digital pathology were all on display at the Healthcare and Artificial Intelligence (HAI) Conclave 2026, held in Bengaluru on Friday and organised by the Global Healthcare Academy.

Dr Shravan Subramanyam, managing director and group CEO of BPL Medical Technologies, opened with a vision of healthcare built around a ‘digital twin’ — an AI model of a person’s body that could monitor health and flag disease risk from before birth into old age. He pointed out that average life expectancy has already climbed from the mid-30s to the 70s, and argued such tools could extend life well beyond 100 years if used responsibly. ‘We are all the human in the loop,’ he said.

Blending old and new, Muralidhar Somisetty, founder and CEO of Wellnesys Technologies, demonstrated Yogifi — a rechargeable, AI-enabled smart yoga mat priced at Rs 12,000 that uses embedded sensor fabric to track balance, posture and alignment, pairing with an app that builds personalised yoga routines. Somisetty said the idea grew out of his own recovery from chronic neck and back pain that had required spine surgery.

On the clinical side, Dr Harsh Atul Hirani, clinician and co-founder of DocYantra, showcased AI agents that analyse 24 hours of patient data and generate dosage recommendations in under 30 seconds, versus four to six minutes for a clinician, while cautioning that nearly 75% of healthcare AI startups fail clinical validation and never reach doctors at all.

The conclave also featured AI-powered patient simulators for communication training, reinforcing organisers’ message that artificial intelligence in healthcare works best as a support system for clinicians rather than a replacement for them.