Subtopic: Types of Sensing Floors
– Monobloc structures made of a single frame
– Carpets
– Modular floors like tiled floors
– Floors made of stripes of sensors
– First prototypes developed in the 1990s
Subtopic: Functions of Sensing Floors
– Measure load (pressure)
– Detect proximity and track humans
– Recognize humans
– Detect metallic objects using magnetometers
– Used for gait analysis and health diagnosis
Subtopic: Applications of Sensing Floors
– Gait analysis for human identification
– Continuous health diagnosis
– Mapping environments for autonomous robots
– Controller for interactive applications
– Used as a MIDI music instrument and games controller
Subtopic: Notable Sensing Floor Prototypes
– Over 30 prototypes developed between 1990 and 2015
– Developed by Oracle, MIT, and Inria
– Few commercial products available as of 2015
– Mainly targeting healthcare facilities
– Examples include GAITRite and SensFloor
Subtopic: Citations
– Joseph Paradiso, Craig Abler, Kai-yuh Hsiao, Matthew Reynolds
– Yu-Lin Shen, Chow-Shing Shin
– Albrecht Schmidt, Martin Strohbach, Kristof van Laerhoven
– Mihai Andries, Olivier Simonin, François Charpillet
– M.D. Addlesee, A. Jones, F. Livesey, F. Samaria
A sensing floor is a floor with embedded sensors. Depending on their construction, these floors are either monobloc (e.g. structures made of a single frame, carpets). or modular (e.g. tiled floors, floors made of stripes of sensors). The first sensing floor prototypes were developed in the 1990s, mainly for human gait analysis. Such floors are usually used as a source of sensing information for an ambient intelligence. Depending on the type of sensors employed, sensing floors can measure load (pressure), proximity (to detect, track, and recognize humans), as well as the magnetic field (for detecting metallic objects like robots using magnetometers).
Sensing floors have a variety of usages:
- Gait analysis for human identification and continuous health diagnosis (either in domestic or hospital environments)
- Mapping of the environment for autonomous robots
- Controller for interactive applications (as a MIDI music instrument, a games controller, dance movement analysis, etc.)
More than 30 distinct sensing floor prototypes have been developed between 1990 and 2015. Notable examples of sensing floors have been developed by Oracle, MIT, and Inria. As of 2015, few sensing floors are available as commercial products, mainly targeting healthcare facilities (e.g. the GAITRite surface pressure sensing floor, and the SensFloor).
