A home gait analysis rig to test a person's walking without needing to consult a professional
Image credit: Seekpng
Darko SavicMay 06, 2022
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An at-home gait analysis rig & app that people can use to determine if their gait is normal without consulting a professional.
Why?
Some people walk like ducks, one or both feet turn out, pigeon-toeing, etc. They don't consider it a problem big enough to seek professional help but probably wouldn't mind fixing it if it were simple. This idea is for them.
Some kids have a weir walk that sometimes gets the attention of their parents but due to lack of knowledge, the parent might shrug it off as just a phase.
Professional gait recording analysis is either expensive, cumbersome, or both.
The current gait analysis solutions are done on a treadmill rather than in a natural setting.
How it works
A wearable rig that people screw together from aluminium rods. It provides 4 mobile phone holders (front, back, left, right).
Google "snorricam" and switch to images. Imagine something like that but much lighter because it only needs to hold a phone. I imagine the wearer would barely feel it. The phone doesn't have to be held far from the body either. Just far enough to see your legs from hip to toe. A shorter distance requires a less sturdy and lighter arm.
An AI-powered mobile app, trained to detect abnormal walking patterns in people. The AI is trained to recognize abnormalities from all 4 positions (front, back, left, right).
A person installs the app and places their phone on one of the 4 holders in the rig. They walk around for several minutes. They then place the phone in the next holder and repeat. After recording themselves walking from all 4 phone holders, the software runs an analysis and outputs a report. If any gait abnormalities are detected, that part is highlighted on the video clip.
Based on this analysis people are instructed to seek professional help and/or do specific exercises to correct the problem.
An additional feature that could be introduced to give a more complete analysis would be the ability to check how you are positioning your feet and which areas of your foot are carrying the most weight.
How
By simply including a mat with sensors on to the rig, it would be able to measure and analyze the soles of your feet as you take a step and tell you if there are any issues, or you would be able to do a squat on the mat and make sure that you are spreading the pressure on your feet equally.
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A belt to replace the rig
Darko SavicMay 07, 2022
You could probably just put on a wide-enough belt with one phone holder sticking out. The holder could be clipped on at different positions around the belt so that the app gets to record your gait from different angles.
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General comments
Subash Chapagain3 years ago
The same idea can be used for sitting and sleeping posture maintenance as well. More broadly, it could also be used for sports and fitness training also.
One tweak: rather than using the bulky rig, maybe a lighter 360 camera would suffice given how well the software for spatial analysis is integrated.
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Darko Savic3 years ago
Subash Chapagain or just a wide belt with one short phone holder to the side. The holder can be clipped on at different positions around the belt.
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Povilas S2 years ago
Darko Savic I also think it might be easier to just place the camera with a wide capturing angle and walk in front, past, and away from it and let the software do the rest. When filming from the side, the stick holding the camera would obstruct the movement of your arms as you walk, therefore you wouldn't walk as naturally as you would without any gear on you.
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Darko Savic2 years ago
Povilas S Ideally you would forget about the camera and relax enough for your natural gait/mistakes to come out. Then you could be jolted:)