Vibrating boots to prevent astronauts from tripping

                Scientists are developing a new space boot that can prevent astronauts or visually impaired people from tripping by using vibration to guide the wearer around and over obstacles. Most falls happen because spacesuits limit astronauts’ ability to both see and feel the terrains around them. The space boot being developed by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Charles Stark Draper Laboratory in the US has built-in sensors and tiny “haptic” motors, whose vibrations can guide the wearer around obstacles.

                In a preliminary study, researchers determined what types of stimuli, administered to what parts of the foot, could provide the best navigation cues. On the basis of that study, they are planning trials using a prototype of the boot. It could also have applications in the design of navigation systems for the visually impaired. The development of such systems has been hampered by lack of efficient and reliable means of communicating spatial information to users.

                Researchers developed a device that spaced six haptic motors around each of a subject’s feet – one motor each at the heel, big toe, and instep, and three motors along the outer edge of the foot. The intensity of the motors’ vibrations could be varied continuously between minimum and maximum settings. This could be useful not only for astronauts but for firemen, who have well-documented issues interacting with their environment, and for people with compromised sensory systems.