Would-be exercisers who get bored by the very idea of hopping on the treadmill are about to lose an excuse.
A Purdue University engineer has developed a system that steadies text so treadmill joggers can read while sweating through the miles.
ReadingMate counteracts the bobbing motion of a runner’s head by adjusting text on a monitor so that it appears still, said Ji Soo Yi, an assistant professor of industrial engineering.
“Not many people can run and read at the same time,” said Yi. “This is because the relative location of the eyes to the text is vigorously changing, and our eyes try to constantly adjust to such changes, which is burdensome.”
The system works by using an infrared camera to monitor the vertical movement of infrared LEDs mounted on goggles worn by the runner. Software moves text displayed on a small monitor to match a user’s head motion.
He said the innovation might also find use with heavy equipment operators and pilots, who must sometimes read important display information while being shaken.