Canadians have figured out how to control applications using their feet on the go

Canadian engineers have developed experimental technology that allows you to control mobile applications on the go – to do this, they suggested making simple but somewhat awkward movements with your legs without stopping.

Image source: youtube.com/@uwaterloo

The average adult takes between 3,500 and 7,000 steps a day, so engineers at the University of Waterloo in Canada proposed using foot movements to control mobile apps. They built a system that reads foot commands and allows, for example, ordering coffee, controlling a music player and answering phone calls using a mixed reality headset.

The idea for the project came to computer science professor Daniel Vogel when, on a cold day, he had to stop and take his hands out of his warm pockets to order coffee through an app on his phone. He wondered if it was possible to accomplish the same thing without stopping. After reviewing existing research, Professor Vogel and his colleagues initially identified 22 “gait gestures”—movements that are prominent during walking but do not interfere with continued movement.

In a study of 25 volunteers, the engineers analyzed these “gestures” in terms of their compatibility with normal walking, ease of execution and social acceptability. As a result, they selected seven gestures that were most suitable for use in public and integrated them into the interface of a mixed reality headset. Volunteers were shown basic movements and asked to perform various operations while walking: playing music, adjusting the volume, ordering a latte, accepting or rejecting incoming calls.

The system correctly recognized commands in 92% of cases. Participants in the experiment generally rated the technology positively, noting its ease of use, and admitted that they would not refuse to continue using it.