Gait-Starter: A Deployable Obstacle and Visual Biofeedback System to Support Gait Initiation in Parkinson’s Disease

초록

Freezing of Gait (FoG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) significantly increases fall risk, most commonly during gait initiation. While existing cueing devices provide external cues, users struggle to assess anticipatory postural adjustment (APA)—particularly mediolateral (ML) weight shift—critical for taking the first step. Drawing on (1) interview findings showing that people with FoG create obstacles or reference points to reorganize action, and (2) prior evidence [1] linking insufficient weight shift to gait initiation failure, we present Gait-Starter. It provides a clear goal via an instantly deployable physical obstacle and visualizes a Weight Shift Index (WSI)—computed from insole pressure sensors—through LED-based biofeedback, making the preparatory process observable. A formative qualitative evaluation with three PD patients suggested that combining a physical goal with real-time biofeedback was perceived as supporting confidence in movement execution, while revealing design challenges such as visual burden and personalized threshold settings. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.

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