Short communicationP 038 – Effect of haptic sensory input from the wearing of cloth on gait performance
Introduction
Lightly touching the fingertips to a stable external object (level of force is insufficient to mechanically support one’s own body) results in decreased postural sway during standing. This “light touch” phenomenon suggests that haptic input through touching primarily provides information about the body orientation, and contributes to balance control [1]. Although the effects of light touch are of interest to researchers, it is unusual for individuals to lightly touch objects while performing daily activities. Recently [2], reported that wearing fluttering cloth (wrapped around the waist and extended to the lower leg) can also provide light touch effect, i.e. postural control during locomotion is significantly improved.
Section snippets
Research question
If haptic input through clothing can improve balance control, it could be used to improve human movement in daily life. Furthermore, this finding would be useful for the development of a garment that could be worn while performing daily activities. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of wearing a fluttering cloth on gait performance.
Methods
(Fig. 1) Eight healthy males (ages 25 ± 4 years) initially performed a 10-m walk test at a comfortable gait with their eyes opened (EO-condition). During the test, the number of steps and gait time were measured. After the test, participants were required to perform the same walk test while blindfolded, under two different conditions: (1) wearing half or short tights (HT-condition), or (2) wearing a fluttering cloth that was wrapped around the waist and extended to the lower leg
Results
Although gait time was significantly increased in both the blindfold condition, a significant difference between the HT- and CLOTH-condition was not observed (Fig. 2). Error from the centre line was not significantly different between the HT- and CLOTH-condition. Gait distance was significantly shorter in the HT-condition than in the CLOTH-condition, and the size of the effect was large (9.67 ± 0.40 m vs. 9.10 ± 0.58 m, respectively; P = 0.01; Cohen’s d = 1.13) (Fig. 3).
Discussion and conclusion
Although stride width is shortened owing to lack of visual sensory input (i.e. blindfold), it can be suppressed by light touch. Clothing individuals with a fluttering cloth may provide haptic sensory cues to enhance the individuals’ perception of their body orientation. It allows one to move more easily as compared with in the no clothing condition. Therefore, these results suggest that a potential new use for clothing (or garments) to enhance human movement utilizing the light touch effect.
References (2)
- et al.
Effect of haptic sensory input through a fluttering cloth on tandem gait performance
Hum. Mov. Sci.
(2017) Light touch contact as a balance aid
Phys. Ther.
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