The effect of tactile ground surface indicators to the gait of human with normal vision

A large number of tactile ground surface indicators for sight disables are constructed on sidewalks in Japan. These indicators have many protuberances, so sight disables can detect them. However, these protuberances could be an extra barrier for people who do not use those indicators. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of tactile ground surface indicators to human gait. Especially toe clearance to avoid tripping. Subjects were 9 young male with normal vision. Those subjects were asked to walk through the path with three different surfaces ; a warning indicators constructed path, a leading indicators constructed path, and a no indicators constructed path. Measurements were carried out using a VICON 3D tracking system and 8 force plates. When they walked through the paths with either indicators, minimum toe clearances was significantly increased for most of the subjects. We also found hip moments are the most common cause to increase minimum toe clearances.