Detection of mobile phone vibrations during walking

Abstract: Today the use of mobile phones are widespread, and they are often kept in trouser pockets. As the thigh is comparatively less sensitive to vibrations, and vibrotactile sensitivity is diminished during movement, detection of vibratory mobile notications during walking is lower than in a still position. Vibrotactile detection rate is hypothesized to be dependent on gait phase. Method: 28 subjects were recruited to walk with a mobile phone in their pocket. Vibrations of random patterns were delivered during a two-minute session. Accelerometer data was recorded to analyze the gait pattern. Results & Discussion: No phase-dependent effect was found. However, consistent with previous studies, a linear correlation between vibration duration and detection rate was found, but only up to durations of one second. Possible explanations are discussed.