Treadmill Runners can Now Run and Read at the Same Time

Treadmill users will now be able to read their favorite book while running. A new innovation allows treadmill runners to work their body and brain at the same time.

The new device, called ReadingMate, efficiently adjusts the texts on the screen in order to counteract the bobbing motion of a runner's head, Ji Soo Yi of Purdue University said in a press statement. "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 task gets more difficult with small font size.

The new device allows you to increase the font size and counteracts the motion of a runner's head.

"Not many people can run and read at the same time," said Yi, an assistant professor of industrial engineering. However, Yi says that it is impractical to have a big screen display in the exercise room.

Researchers developed the ReadingMate based on the hypothesis that the primary impediment to reading while running is the head's vertical movement. Treadmill runners can read normal-sized text even on a small screen that is placed in front of the machine.

The study was conducted on 15 students who were a part of a letter-counting task, both while running on a treadmill and using ReadingMate. They were given goggles that had infrared LEDs. For the test, the participants had to count the number of times the letter F occurred in two lines of text placed among 10 lines that were displayed on the screen. Infrared camera trapped the LEDs, tracking the runners' bobbing head.

It was found that those who used ReadingMate had a higher frequency when compared to the control group. 

The newly designed system can be used by aircraft pilots and heavy equipment operators.