Jogging Partner Tech Offers Company

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May 10, 2007 — Jogging with a partner beats jogging alone. But it can be difficult to find the right buddy who can meet in the same location and who runs at roughly the same pace.

Now a prototype technology makes it possible to jog with the perfect partner, even if the person lives in another city.

The Jogging Over a Distance system uses mobile phone and GPS technology as well as a custom computer program to transform a phone conversation into a three-dimensional audio experience. While you run, you can hear your partner's voice coming from the front, to the side, or behind, depending on how fast or slow he's traveling.

"It's a way to support social joggers to motivate one another to jog and push each other even with being in two different cities or countries," said Florian 'Floyd' Mueller, researcher at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Mueller developed the system together with Shannon O'Brien and Alex Thorogood of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

The system consists of two identical sets of equipment that each contain a Bluetooth GPS receiver, a 3G mobile phone connection, a miniature computer, a wireless modem and a headset.

As the person runs, the GPS data is collected and transmitted wirelessly to the miniature computer, which the jogger wears in a close-fitting backpack. An algorithm on the computer determines how fast each person is running in relation to his or her partner and calculates a sound position. It uses the value of the sound position to change the audio each jogger hears.

As one jogger speaks, the partner hears the voice as coming from the front (if the partner is jogging faster), from the side (if they're running at the same pace), or from behind (if they're moving slower).

 

Because the audio is digital, it can be adjusted to account for friends who run at much different paces. For example, if a beginning runner wants to jog with her more experienced friend, the voice of the beginner can be dialed to sound as if she is just behind the her friend — or vice versa — instead of sounding as if the is coming from way in the distance.

In this way, runners with vastly different skill levels can still challenge their individual pace without having to slow down or speed up to accommodate their partner.

Mueller is also considering putting together a Web site that will add a social networking aspect to the system. He envisions a site where joggers can log on, request running partners, and potentially establish new relationships.

"I'm really interested in helping people jog and motivate them to exercise more. If they make new friends through it, even better," said Mueller.

Stephen Brewster, professor of human computer interaction at the University of Glasgow in the U.K., agrees that hearing other people as you're exercising is good motivation, though he believes not seeing each other could contribute to some confusion.

"You lose some cues that you actually get when you're running with a person. If you were running with a real person and you're running uphill, you might stop talking," said Brewster, who runs about five miles three or four times per week.

He points out that one partner may start to wonder, "I don't know why you're suddenly not speaking to me anymore."

But for those joggers who hate to go it alone, hearing a partner may be better than no partner at all.