SoleSound: towards a novel portable system for audio-tactile ecological underfoot feedback

This paper introduces the design of SoleSound, a wearable system designed to deliver ecological, audio-tactile, underfoot feedback. The device, which primarily targets clinical applications, uses an audio-tactile footstep synthesis engine informed by the readings of pressure and inertial sensors embedded in the footwear to integrate enhanced feedback modalities into the authors' previously developed instrumented footwear. The synthesis models currently implemented in the SoleSound simulate different ground surface interactions. Unlike similar devices, the system presented here is fully portable, and can therefore be utilized outside the laboratory setting. A first experimental evaluation indicates that the device can effectively modulate the perception of the ground surface during walking, thereby, inducing changes in the gait of healthy subjects.