Texting and walking changes our gait and walking speed

A new research suggests that people walk more cautiously when they text but are no more likely to trip over obstacles than those who walk without doing it. Texting while walking is perhaps a very common thing on the planet and every one of us, at some point, have done it. This study focused on the way we behave, how we become more cautious while texting etc. and other scenarios. The researchers used motion sensors which helped them to carry out a 3-D analysis of each scenario and its effects on people’s gait. The lead researcher, Dr. Conrad Earnest got, motivated towards this study when he got irritated at the drunken weaving of the pedestrians on their mobile phones in the Bath City Centre. Dr. Conrad then enlisted the help of two other undergraduates from University of Bat;, Robynne Smith and Sammy Licence, who would help him in conducting the study. The study consisted of 30 participants who were asked to complete three different walking tasks around an obstacle course. All of the participants belonged to the age group of 18 to 50 and were able to complete the course while walking normally, texting and walking and texting and walking all the while completing a simple math test. All of these tests were done to help understand how the people react to obstacles while typing a text message.

The participants took longer to complete the tasks when they were distracted by the text messages. The other thing the researchers noticed was that while texting and walking the participants lifted their feet more to overcome an obstacle than normal. They were more careful, slower, took more steps and were less likely to walk in a straight line while being distracted.

Shedding more light on how the idea of this study struck him, Dr. Earnest said,” One day I was walking on the street and got frustrated by the drunken weaving of texters. Then I decided to take refuge in a coffee shop and was equally annoyed by people in the queue placing their orders, texting and/or talking on their phones. The idea was secured after watching a YouTube video and reading an article on in attentional blindness where people did not notice a unicycling clown while using their mobile phones.“ The main finding of the study showed that the people slowed their walking speeds and took more sure and small steps while texting to reach their destinations.