Many people realize that you must exercise to stay healthy.
Yet many also find it difficult to maintain a regular exercise program on their own.

This is just the kind of person we had in mind when we devleoped the "Popstep" device!

Popstep is worn on commercially available shoes.  Popstep comes with an acceleration sensor that detects the timing the foot strikes the ground. The sounds of instruments will then flow through the wearer's earphones in sync with their foot as it hits the ground.

Listen to your favorite songs while running and performing along with the artist!

While listening to my favorite songs, I can run along with that artist while running!

The device also provides a function that detects your running form and plays a good sound when your form is good, and a function that selects a song that fits your running rhythm.

This is not just for running either...you can have several people join you, each selecting a different instrument, basically creating your own jam session!

Popstep will help people maintain a consistent exercise program longer, and encourage non-exercisers to get up and move. 

Try on a pair of magical sneakers that turn you into...not an athlete...but a musical artist! 

Below we set up both feet using a 3-axis analog acceleration sensor. As shown in the figure, the foot hits the ground and is detected when the acceleration peak reaches the z-axis direction. For detection, we run operate a peak detection algorithm on GR-COTTON which detects when the threshold is exceeded. Specifically, the part where the positive/negative sign is reversed by the first derivative of the acceleration data and the value of the acceleration data that exceeds the threshold is regarded as a peak.

Communication between GR-Cotton and an Android device is carried out with TCP communication. When the Android side receives a signal indicating the foot hit the ground from  GR-Cotton, the programmed outputs an instrument sound.This device will play music you previously saves in the app so you can enjoy your favorite tunes while running, while playing instruments such as drums or guitar with PopStep!