Towards an application of interactive sonification for the forces applied on the pedals during cycling on the Wattbike ergometer

Abstract

Cyclists aim to improve pedaling technique to increase pedal force effectiveness. Therefore, biomechanical feedback about how the force is applied on the pedal stroke throughout the cycle is valuable. This information is typically presented visually on a display mounted on the handlebars. However, challenges associated with visual information presentation motivate movement researchers to display the information acoustically via parameter-mapping sonification that has shown potential for improving motor skills. This paper describes initial considerations for an application of interactive sonification for the forces applied on the pedals during cycling on the Wattbike ergometer. It was aimed to examine if the characteristics of the pedal stroke are represented in the sound to create congruency between sound, action and reaction. The primary focus is on describing the design followed by a brief summary of evaluation and practical effectiveness which was conducted on twenty-four master students (25.9±3.0years) and tested in a pilot study with four recreational cyclists (35.3±0.9years).The results of both requests indicate that sonification of the Wattbike data as an acoustic presentation of the force applied throughout the pedal stroke cycle is directly and intuitively understandable. Individual statements from testing revealed that participants became aware of characteristics within the cycling movement which they have not explicitly noticed before. The feeling for specific periods throughout the cycle was improved (pushing and pulling), and the differences in applying force on the legs (symmetry) became evident. Listening to the sound allowed cyclists to hear fluctuations in the forces applied on the pedals and thus try to adapt their muscle activation pattern. Thus, the approach presented here could serve as a helpful training tool for cyclists to optimize their cycling movement.