Haptic gait retraining: Evaluating learning environments for haptic motion training

We explore the potential for a portable gait retraining system, which provides real-time haptic feedback to a user who may not devote full attention to training. We present a study that compares the effects of attention and haptic feedback on learning a new gait to understand whether users can improve performance when distracted and if real-time haptic feedback can enhance the process. We find that subjects are able to learn the new gait under all conditions, which requires modification to two independent motions simultaneously. Subjects had better accuracy, in general, when completely focused on training and with haptic feedback on every step. Our results support the idea that a portable real-time haptic feedback system has promise for facilitating motion training.