Development of a Wearable Device That Provides Haptic Feedback Based on Force Distribution of Gait Stance for Pediatric Applications

Lower limb disorders reduce the quality of life by making walking extremely difficult, especially for children. In this study, a wearable device that provides vibrotactile feedback on the forearms in a pattern that emulates the sensation of pressures from the force distribution on the feet was developed to determine whether children can intuitively associate the vibration pattern with their gait, with the ultimate aiding in walking rehabilitation. This device was tested on multiple children by having them walk multiple trials at different speeds and directions, and then replaying the vibrations of each trial in a different order while the subject attempted to verify the speed and direction of the gait based on the vibrations. Results showed low accuracies for children’s ability to verify the gait based on the vibrations, be-cause of inconsistent sensor readings and the need for more training for the subjects for intuitive association.