A Smartphone Based Fiber Sensor for Recognizing Walking Patterns

This paper shows the development of a prospective portable optical sensor to monitor the human gait. The device is based on an intensity coded fiber optic macro-bend force sensor specially designed to be adapted in insoles. Sensor interrogation is made by the CCD camera of a smartphone, exploiting the functionalities of this kind of device. The sensor device fabrication is described with details. Tests carried out with the sensor have shown its capability of providing information about spatial and temporal parameters of the gait as well as ground reaction forces on heels.