National Shooter Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla Turns Injury Experience Into Somatrace Wearable Tech With Samsung

Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla, national level shooter and national medalist, is developing Somatrace as a Top 20 finalist in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, using sensors to track spinal movement in real time and provide athletes and coaches with information on posture and movement during training.

At 21, national level shooter and national medalist Homanshika Reddy Pullagurla is applying her experience in competitive sport to Somatrace, a wearable system being developed to track spinal movement in real time.
The Hyderabad based athlete began shooting at the age of 12 as a hobby before progressing to national competitions and winning medals. Her experience with injury, along with seeing a friend leave sport because of an injury, prompted her to examine whether technology could give athletes a better understanding of their movement during training.
Somatrace uses sensors to capture spinal movement patterns in real time. Initially designed for rifle shooters, the system is intended to provide athletes and coaches with information about posture and repeated movements that can be difficult to identify through observation alone.

The technology is being developed to help users recognise movement patterns that may be associated with injury risk and make more informed decisions during training. It is not presented as a diagnostic tool, but as a means of making movement data more accessible to athletes and coaches.
“I wanted to solve this for others as well,” Homanshika said. “I have seen how an injury can change an athlete’s journey.”
Shooting was not initially part of Homanshika’s career plans. Growing up, she considered becoming a doctor or engineer before taking up rifle shooting at 12. What began recreationally developed into competitive sport, bringing national level participation and medals.

Her experience on the shooting range also drew her attention to the relationship between posture, repeated movement and athletic performance. Rifle shooting requires precise positioning, and small changes in movement can affect an athlete’s training and performance.
This observation led Homanshika to consider whether those movements could be measured and analysed rather than assessed only visually. Somatrace emerged from that question.

Her work on the wearable has earned her a place among the Top 20 finalists in Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2026, Samsung’s national education and innovation programme for young people developing solutions to practical challenges.
Through the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Bootcamp, Homanshika has been testing assumptions behind Somatrace and receiving feedback on its technical development, user requirements and commercial possibilities.
“The Bootcamp was an amazing experience. It helped me validate my idea practically,” she said.
The programme also prompted her to consider Somatrace beyond its original application and examine how the technology could develop into a venture.

“Meeting so many mentors put a lot of things into perspective for me. My idea transformed, especially when I started looking at the business aspect of things,” she said.
Samsung Solve for Tomorrow provides participants with mentorship, prototyping guidance, design thinking workshops and exposure to Samsung’s technology and innovation ecosystem.
For Homanshika, participation has also meant considering how Somatrace could deliver practical value to athletes rather than focusing solely on whether the technology can be built.

“SFT has made me confident and pushed me to go past my comfort zone,” she said. “I have started seeing that creating value for others is the most important thing at Solve for Tomorrow.”
As Somatrace develops, Homanshika’s experience as a competitive shooter remains central to the idea. Her aim is to provide athletes and coaches with measurable information about movement that could support training decisions and help athletes better understand their bodies.
The project now brings together her experience in competitive shooting with her interest in technology, as she works to develop Somatrace from an athlete’s idea into a solution with potential applications in sport.

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