Maintaining levels of activity using a haptic personal training application

Abstract

This paper describes the development of a novel mobile phone-based application designed to monitor the walking habits of older adults. Haptic cues integrated within the prototype, are designed to inform an individual of changes which should be made to maintain a prescribed level of activity. A pilot study was conducted with fifteen older adults walking at varying speeds, both with and without the presence of assistive haptic feedback from the prototype. The results confirm that more steps were taken when haptic feedback was provided while walking at normal and fast paces. However, results also indicate that further refinements would be needed to improve the identification of haptic cues while individuals are in motion.