Assessment of gait harmony in older and young people

Recent studies have found that in normal human walking the stance and swing phases are approximately in proportion to , the golden ratio. This could provide an interesting tool in human gait analysis, in diagnosing pathological conditions or in analysing the walking performance of a subject. However, the assessment of gait harmony was provided in previous studies by means of optical systems, which are not ideal for clinicians, because of non-portability, high-costs, and necessity of expert supervisor skills. In addition, the assessment regarded mostly middle-aged or aged people. Differently, this work is based on wearable technology to sense human walking, and reports a comparison between elder and young people. Results demonstrate how elders adopt a walking style which better minimizes the energy expenditure.