Comparative Analysis of Footwear Effects on Wireless Pressure Insoles Performance

Foot pressure analysis is a fundamental part of sports biomechanics, ergonomics, and clinical research. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of different footwear on the accuracy and reliability of wireless insoles for foot pressure measurement. Five participants performed a number of tasks such as, squat, mediolateral (ML) sway, and anteroposterior (AP) sway, while the data were being recorded simultaneously by a pressure insole system and a forceplate. The subjects started the trials with the 'Barefooted' condition. They then progressed to wearing 'Socks' only, followed by 'Flat shoes', and concluded the experiments by testing the 'Sneakers' type of footwear. The criteria of the evaluation was done by looking into the center of pressure (CoP) deviation and the vertical ground reaction force (Fz). The results indicate that for CoP trajectories, although different footwear yielded significant differences in the ML direction, the overall CoP estimations were fairly acceptable. As for Fz, the results showed significant differences among most footwear, with 'Socks' yielding the lowest error variation. These findings indicate that 'Socks' can be selected as the optimal choice in the overall comparison.