Background

Head-worn displays (e.g., “smart glasses”) are an emerging technology to provide information, and in many situations they might be used while walking. However, little evidence exists regarding the effects of head-worn displays on walking performance. We found earlier that “smart glasses” had smaller adverse effects on measures of gait variability in the anterior-posterior direction vs. other types of information displays. Participants, however, complained about motion sickness and perceived instability while using smart glasses.

Research question

Were the participants’ complaints a result of adverse effects of the smart glasses on the dynamics of lateral stepping and gait stability?

Methods

Twenty individuals walked on a treadmill in four different conditions; single-task walking, and three dual-task walking conditions, the latter using smart glasses, smartphone, and a paper-based system to provide secondary cognitive tasks. We assessed the dynamics of lateral stepping and gait stability using the goal equivalent manifold and maximum Lyapunov exponent, respectively.

Results

The dynamics of the lateral stepping were more adversely affected using smart glasses compared to the other types of information displays. However, stability measures revealed that the participants were more unstable when they used the smartphone and paper-based system.

Significance

Promising results in terms of stability and adaptability suggest that head-worn display technology is a potentially useful alternative to smartphones and other types of information displays for reducing the risk of a fall. Results regarding perceptions of instability and a loss of control over lateral stepping, however, imply that this technology requires further development prior to real-work implementations.

中文翻译：

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头戴式显示器（“智能眼镜”）对步态期间横向位置控制的动力学有不利影响。

背景

头戴式显示器（例如“智能眼镜”）是一种提供信息的新兴技术，在许多情况下，它们可能在行走时使用。但是，关于头戴式显示器对步行性能的影响，几乎没有证据。我们较早发现，与其他类型的信息显示相比，“智能眼镜”对前后方向上的步态变异性测量的不良影响较小。但是，参与者抱怨使用智能眼镜时会晕车和感觉不稳定。

研究问题

参与者的抱怨是否是智能眼镜对横向踩踏和步态稳定性的不利影响所致？

方法

二十个人在四种不同条件下在跑步机上行走；单任务步行和三种双任务步行条件，后者使用智能眼镜，智能手机和基于纸张的系统来提供辅助认知任务。我们分别使用目标等效流形和最大Lyapunov指数评估了横向步态和步态稳定性的动力学。

结果

与其他类型的信息显示相比，使用智能眼镜对横向踏步的动力学影响更大。但是，稳定性测量表明，参与者在使用智能手机和纸质系统时更加不稳定。

意义

就稳定性和适应性而言，令人鼓舞的结果表明，头戴式显示技术是智能手机和其他类型的信息显示的潜在有用替代品，可降低跌倒的风险。关于不稳定性和对横向踏步失去控制感的结果表明，该技术需要在实际实施之前进行进一步开发。