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Category

Wearable Technology

Document Type

Paper

Abstract

Current running platforms lack quantitative surface characterization despite its critical influence on performance and injury risk. We developed a smartphone-based method using ankle-mounted inertial sensors to measure runner-surface interactions through two metrics: Runner-Perceived Hardness Index (RPHI) and Runner-Perceived Traction Index (RPTI). Two runners performed total of 19 analyzable trials across cement and snow surfaces. Results show cement had a significantly higher RPHI (15.32±5.53 vs. 1.94±1.12 m/s²) and a significantly lower RPTI (16.52±2.17 vs 25.00±3.35 m/s²) than snow. These findings validate smartphones for real-time surface characterization, enabling data-driven training optimization previously limited to laboratories.

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