Smart Textile Sock System for Athletes' Self-Correction during Functional Tasks: Formative Usability Evaluation

Area of Science:

• Physiotherapy
• Biomedical Engineering
• Sports Science

Background:

• Developing lightweight, user-friendly plantar pressure measurement systems is crucial for physiotherapy research.
• Smart textile sock sensor systems offer potential for self-correction during functional tasks.
• A formative usability study was conducted to evaluate a smart textile sock system.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the usability of a smart textile sock sensor system for self-correction during functional tasks.
• To evaluate the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction of the smart sock system.
• To identify areas for technical improvement in the smart textile sock pressure sensor system.

Main Methods:

• Five athletes from a football school participated in the study.
• Participants performed pre-defined functional tasks using the smart textile sock system for self-correction.
• Usability was evaluated using task success rates, error rates, time-based efficiency, and the System Usability Scale (SUS).

Main Results:

• Task completeness effectiveness varied from 40% to 100% across task stages.
• Task completion times ranged from 4.2s to 88.8s in Stage 1 and 7.2s to 9.6s in Stage 2.
• The System Usability Scale (SUS) score was 76 (SD 7.42), indicating "good" user satisfaction.

Conclusions:

• Formative usability indicators highlight the need for technical enhancements to the smart textile sock pressure sensor system.
• The smart textile sock system demonstrates "good" user satisfaction and potential for application in physiotherapy.
• Further development is needed to optimize the system's effectiveness and efficiency.