Hyderabad: A Hyderabad-based national-level shooter, Homanshika Reddy, is using technology to confront a problem that can abruptly end an athlete’s journey due to injury.
At 12, Homanshika picked up a rifle as a hobby but nine years later, the 21-year-old is developing Somatrace, a wearable system that uses sensors to track spinal movement in real time.
Initially designed for rifle shooters, the technology aims to give athletes and coaches deeper insights into posture and movement during training and help them identify patterns that may be associated with injury risk.
Her innovation has taken her to the Top 20 of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, Samsung’s flagship national education and innovation programme, which helps young people transform ideas addressing real-world challenges into potentially scalable solutions.
For Homanshika, Somatrace is rooted in lived experience. She has dealt with injury herself and has also watched a friend leave sport because of one.
“I wanted to solve this for others as well,” Homanshika said. “I have seen how an injury can change an athlete’s journey.”
From the Shooting Range to Wearable Technology
Homanshika had not always planned to become an innovator. Growing up, she imagined becoming a doctor or an engineer. Shooting entered her life almost unexpectedly when she took it up as a hobby at the age of 12.
The hobby soon became a serious pursuit. Competitions brought discipline, pressure and national medals. Inspired by Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and the young shooters training alongside her, Homanshika discovered what talent and persistence could achieve.
Sport also taught her how much an athlete’s performance depends on the body—and how quickly injury can take that opportunity away.
In rifle shooting, precision is everything. Small variations in posture or repeated movements can influence performance. Homanshika began wondering whether these movements could be captured and analysed, giving athletes and coaches information that is difficult to see with the naked eye.
That question became Somatrace.
The wearable system is being developed to capture spinal movement patterns during training. By making this information measurable, Homanshika hopes Somatrace can help athletes better understand their bodies and enable coaches to make more informed training decisions.
Her ambition is straightforward: help athletes remain in the sport they love for longer.
