Nike + iPod Sport Kit transmitter positioning: Does it matter?

September 26, 2006 9:21 AM

Nike + iPod Sport Kit, transmitter hacked into the tongue of my New Balance shoes: I run the same 4 mile route every time, but occasionally my pace is WAY off. Yesterday it read 3.19 miles at the end of my run, and I took a look at the transmitter to see that it was sideways inside the tongue. Is that why?

Do I need to make sure the transmitter is at 12 o'clock? Will it be most accurate if it is also laying flat in the sole as in the (overpriced) Nike shoes?

posted by bradn to technology (5 comments total)

Your calibration may be off. I don't own one, but I've heard from people who do (who also do not own the shoes) that calibrating it on a track works wonders for its accuracy.
posted by Loto at 9:46 AM on September 26, 2006

Based on my intuition (and backed up by the Apple site on the Nike+iPod kit), the sensor uses an accelerometer to figure out your steps. The accelerometer is placed so that its sensor senses motion along a particular direction. By putting the sensor on the tongue of the shoe, it's probably not picking up the right motion, and causing erroneous readings.

I think the naive solution (without buying the Nike shoes) would be to find some location on the shoe to put the sensor so that it lies parallel to the ground when your shoe is not in motion.

On Preview: try running the calibration first, if that doesn't work, try the suggestion above and then run the calibration.
posted by scalespace at 11:51 AM on September 26, 2006

I've read about people wedging the transmitter under the laces of their shoe a bit further down, so it moves in the same direction as if it were inside the shoe.
posted by bcwinters at 12:41 PM on September 26, 2006

The appropriately named podophile.com site has instructions for attaching the accelerometer to non-Nike shoes.
posted by mmascolino at 1:36 PM on September 26, 2006

Thanks for the help. My question is if the accelerometer needs to move in a linear motion to be accurate.
I was aware of the podophile article, but I thought my in-tongue solution was a little better. I am going to put it lower in the shoe so it lays flatter and secure it in place so it stays pointing straight ahead.
posted by bradn at 1:42 PM on September 26, 2006