Circuits, systems, and methods for monitoring and reporting foot impact, foot placement, shoe life, and other running/walking characteristics

• US 8,581,731 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2011
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bryce Benjamin Purks, Connor Kent Purks, David Kent Purks, Deborah Rhea Purks, Kory Patrick Purks
• Original Assignee: Bryce Benjamin Purks, Connor Kent Purks, David Kent Purks, Deborah Rhea Purks, Kory Patrick Purks
• Inventors: Purks, Connor Kent, Purks, Kory Patrick, Purks, Bryce Benjamin, Purks, Deborah Rhea, Purks, David Kent
• Primary Examiner(s): Tweel, Jr., John A
• Application Number:
  US12/932,056
• Publication Number:
  US 20110140897A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• Field of Search: 340/573.1, 340/573.7, 340/665, 734/88, 734/90, 735/10, 738/654, 702/141, 702/150
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/22 Ergometry; Measuring muscular strength or the force of a muscular blow exercising apparatus A63B21/00 ; measuring of work or force in general G01L
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/7405 using sound

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention provide an electronic virtual running/walking coach that notifies a person as to how hard the person'"'"'s feet have been impacting a surface, notifies the person as to whether the person'"'"'s feet are impacting a surface at a proper relative distance from the body and/or at a proper side-to-side angle, and/or notifies the person as to how much cushioning life remains in a pair of shoes. When the notifications are provided to the person during the running/walking activity, the person can respond by taking immediate actions to adjust the foot placement relative to the body and/or adjust the level of foot impact to an acceptable level by varying the speed, step distance, and/or posture while running/walking and/or by selecting among different available surfaces on which to run/walk. A person may also more accurately determine when a particular pair of shoes should be replaced because they no longer provide a sufficient level of cushioning to compensate for the levels of foot impact that are occurring.

Claims

1. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running; and

an impact alert circuit that is configured to regulate a background sound component in response to measured impacts, and to combine the background sound component with a music component generated by a music player to generate a combined signal that is played to the person to audibly indicate to the person how much impact occurred from the foot striking the surface.

2. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit comprises an accelerometer configured to measure acceleration and/or rate of change of acceleration as the measured impact from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running.

3. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit comprises a force transducer configured to measure force as the measured impact from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running.

4. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate the background sound component to generate an indication for the person of a peak magnitude of the measured impact.

5. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to generate a baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts, and to respond to a presently measured impact exceeding the baseline threshold level by causing the background sound component signal to be audible within the combined signal played through the music player to the person to provide an audible warning to the person when the measured impact from the foot striking the surface has become excessive.

6. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to;

generate at least one baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts;

increase loudness of the background sound component relative to the music component of the combined signal being played to the person in response to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by an increased amount to audibly indicate to the person when the presently measured impact from the foot striking the surface has increased; and

decrease loudness of the background sound component relative the music component of the combined signal being played to the person in response to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by a decreased amount to audibly indicate to the person when the presently measured impact from the foot striking the surface has decreased.

8. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising:

a display device configured to display indicia to the person,

wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to;

generate a baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of measured impacts; and

respond to a presently measured impact exceeding the baseline threshold level by causing the display device to display a foot impact warning indicia to the person.

10. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, further comprising:

a display device configured to display indicia to the person,

wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to;

generate a record of the measured impacts; and

communicate the record of the measured impacts for operation by the display device to graph the measured impacts from the record relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

11. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate the background sound component to inform the person of a rate of change of measurements of an impact.

13. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate an accumulated impact metric in response to the measured impacts; and

communicate the accumulated impact metric to a display device for display to the person.

14. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

monitor the measured impacts while the person is walking/running over the life of at least one of the person'"'"'s shoes; and

generate an indication of when the shoe has become worn-out in response to how much the monitored measured impacts change over the life of the shoe.

15. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 14, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

respond to a calibration signal by generating a baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts; and

generate an indication of when the shoe has become worn-out in response to how much the monitored measured impacts change relative to the baseline threshold level.

16. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 15, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate the baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of measured impacts over more than one minute; and

generate an indication of when the shoe has become worn-out in response to how much a present numeric combination of measured impacts over another at least one minute changed relative to the baseline threshold level.

18. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on the person'"'"'s shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

22. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness and/or pitch of white noise as the background sound component.

23. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness and/or pitch of a repeating tone as the background sound component.

24. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 1, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness of the background sound component relative to the music component of the combined signal being played to the person in response to comparison of measured impacts to at least one baseline threshold level.

25. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 24, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the at least one baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts.

26. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 25, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of measured impacts.

27. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 25, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to initiate generation of the at least one baseline threshold level in response to a calibration signal.

7. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running;

a sound generation device that is configured to generate sound to the person,

an impact alert circuit that is configured to;

generate at least one baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts;

respond to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by causing the sound generation device to generate a foot impact warning sound to the person;

increase loudness and/or modify a defined tone characteristic of the foot impact warning sound generated by the sound generation device in response to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by an increased amount to audibly indicate to the person when the presently measured impact from the foot striking the surface has increased; and

decrease loudness and/or oppositely modify the defined tone characteristic of the foot impact warning sound generated by the sound generation device in response to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by a decreased amount to audibly indicate to the person when the presently measured impact from the foot striking the surface has decreased.

28. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness of the foot impact warning sound generated by the sound generation device in response to comparison of measured impacts to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

29. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 28, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness of white noise generated by the sound generation device in response to comparison of measured impacts to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

30. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 28, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness of a repeating tone generated by the sound generation device in response to comparison of measured impacts to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

31. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate a defined tone characteristic of the foot impact warning sound generated by the sound generation device in response to comparison of measured impacts to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

32. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate one of the at least one baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of measured impacts.

33. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate one of the at least one baseline threshold level in response a calibration process.

34. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, further comprising:

a display device configured to display indicia to the person,

wherein the impact alert circuit is configured to respond to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by causing the display device to display a foot impact warning indicia to the person.

35. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 7, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on a shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

9. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running;

a display device configured to display indicia to the person; and

an impact alert circuit that is configured to;

generate at least one baseline threshold level in response to measured impacts;

respond to a presently measured impact exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by causing the display device to display a foot impact warning indicia to the person; and

cause the display device to modify the foot impact warning indicia to indicate when a presently measured impact is exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by a greater amount, and to indicate when a presently measured impact is exceeding one of the at least one baseline threshold level by a lesser amount to provide visual guidance to the person of the measured impact from the foot striking the surface.

36. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to display the foot impact warning indicia to indicate a result of comparison of measured impacts to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

37. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate one of the baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of measured impacts.

38. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate one of the at least one baseline threshold level in response a calibration process.

39. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to graph on the display device the measured impacts relative an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

40. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 39, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to graph the measured impacts relative to at least one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

41. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to modify the foot impact warning indicia by changing distance between a first object displayed on the display device and a second object displayed on the display device responsive to comparison of at least one measured impact and one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

42. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to modify the foot impact warning indicia by changing shading of at least one object displayed on the display device.

43. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 42, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to modify the foot impact warning indicia by changing shading of a plurality of overlapping objects displayed on the display device.

44. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 43, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to modify the foot impact warning indicia by changing shading of a plurality of concentric circles displayed on the display device.

45. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9,

wherein the impact alert circuit is configured to:

generate a record of the measured impacts; and

communicate the record of the measured impacts for operation by the display device and/or another display device to graph the measured impacts from the record relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a stride step distance, a speed at which the person was walking/running, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

46. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein the impact alert circuit is configured to:

monitor the measured impacts while the person is walking/running over the life of at least one of the person'"'"'s shoes; and

generate a shoe life indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to how much the monitored measured impacts change over the life of the shoe.

47. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 46, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to display the shoe life indication on the display device to indicate how much shoe cushioning life remains and/or when the shoe has become worn out.

48. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 46, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate another audible warning through a sound generation device as the indication of when the shoe has become worn-out.

49. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 46, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to how much the monitored measured impacts change relative to one of the at least one baseline threshold level.

50. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 9, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on a shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

12. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running; and

an impact alert circuit that is configured to;

generate a baseline threshold level in response to rate of change of measurements of an impact; and

respond to a present rate of change of measurements of an impact exceeding the baseline threshold level by generating an audible warning through a sound generation device and/or a visual warning through a display device.

51. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of rate of change of measurements of impacts.

52. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response a calibration process.

53. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response to rate of change of a pulse segment of measurements of an impact.

54. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to respond to the present rate of change of measurements of at least one impact exceeding the baseline threshold level by generating an audible warning through the sound generation device.

55. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to respond to the present rate of change of measurements of at least one impact exceeding the baseline threshold level by generating a visual warning through the display device.

56. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate loudness of the audible warning through the sound generation device in response to comparison of rate of change of measurements of at least one impact to the baseline threshold level.

57. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate a defined tone characteristic of the audible warning through the sound generation device in response to comparison of rate of change of the measurements of at least one impact to the baseline threshold level.

58. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to display the visual warning through the display device to indicate a result of comparison of rate of change of the measurements of at least one impact to the baseline threshold level.

59. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to graph on the display device an indication of rate of change of measurements of impacts relative an elapsed time of the activity, a stride step distance, a speed at which the person was walking/running, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

60. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12,

wherein the impact alert circuit is configured to:

generate a record of the measured impacts; and

communicate the record of the measured impacts for operation by the display device and/or another display device to graph the measured impacts from the record relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a stride step distance, a speed at which the person was walking/running, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

61. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein the impact alert circuit is configured to:

monitor rate of change of the measurements of impacts while the person is walking/running over the life of at least one of the person'"'"'s shoes; and

generate an indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to how much the monitored rate of change of the measurements of impacts changes over the life of the shoe.

62. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 61, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to display the indication on the display device to indicate how much shoe cushioning life remains.

63. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 61, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate another audible warning through the sound generation device as the indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains and/or when the shoe has become worn out.

64. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 61, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains and/or when the shoe has become worn-out in response to how much the monitored rate of change of the measurements of impacts changes relative to the baseline threshold level.

65. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 12, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on a shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

17. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running; and

an impact alert circuit that is configured to;

monitor the measured impacts while the person is walking/running over the life of at least one of the person'"'"'s shoes;

respond to a calibration signal from a person by generating a baseline threshold level in response to rate of change of measurements of impacts; and

generate an indication of when the shoe has become worn-out in response to a comparison of rate of change of measurements of at least one impact to the baseline threshold level.

66. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the indication of when the shoe has become worn-out by displaying on a display device an indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to change of a pulse segment of measurements of at least one impact.

67. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 66, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to control an amount that an object displayed on a display device is filled-in or emptied to graphically indicate how much cushioning life remains in the shoe.

68. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 66, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to change of a rate of change of a peak pulse segment of measurements of impacts.

69. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate an indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to comparison of a peak pulse segment to another segment outside the peak pulse segment of measurements of at least one impact.

70. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate an indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to comparison of a peak pulse segment of measurements of an impact to a segment of the measurements of the impact which includes the peak pulse segment.

71. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate an indication of how much shoe cushioning life remains in response to a comparison of rate of change of measurements of impacts to the baseline threshold level.

72. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response to a numeric combination of rate of change of measurements of impacts.

73. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the baseline threshold level in response to rate of change of a pulse segment of measurements of impacts.

74. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to respond to a rate of change of measurements of at least one impact exceeding a threshold level by generating an audible warning through a sound generation device.

75. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to regulate loudness of an audible warning generated through a sound generation device in response to comparison of rate of change of measurements of impacts to a threshold level.

76. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to regulate a defined tone characteristic of an audible warning generated through a sound generation device in response to comparison of rate of change of measurements of impacts to a threshold level.

77. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to respond to a rate of change of measurements of at least one impact exceeding a threshold level by displaying a visual warning through a display device.

78. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to graph on a display device an indication of rate of change of measurements of impacts relative an elapsed time of the activity, a stride step distance, a speed at which the person was walking/running, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

79. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17,

wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to generate a record of the measured impacts and to communicate the record of the measured impacts for operation by a display device to graph the measured impacts from the record relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

80. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 17, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on the person'"'"'s shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

19. A foot impact monitoring system comprising:

an impact measurement circuit configured to measure impact from a foot repetitively striking a surface while a person is walking/running; and

an impact alert circuit that is configured to;

determine from characteristics of the measured impact when the person is placing the foot improperly forward when striking the surface and resulting in excessive undesirable slowing forces exerted on the foot and retarding forward movement of the person; and

generate an audible/visual warning to the person that a first improper foot placement condition exists responsive to the determination that the person is placing the foot improperly forward when striking the surface.

20. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to determine that the person is placing the foot improperly forward when striking the surface in response to determining from the measured impact when acceleration greater than a defined threshold occurs in a direction opposite to a forward direction of movement of the person.

21. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

determine from characteristics of the measured impact when the person is placing the foot with overpronation or supination when striking the surface and resulting in undesirable rotational forces exerted on the foot; and

generate another audible/visual warning to the person that a second improper foot placement condition exists responsive to the determination that the person is placing the foot with overpronation or underpronation when striking the surface.

81. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate the audible warning through a sound generation device responsive to the determination that the person is placing the foot improperly forward when striking the surface.

82. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate the visual warning through a display device responsive to the determination that the person is placing the foot improperly forward when striking the surface.

83. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

display the visual warning through a display device in response to comparison of acceleration, in a direction opposite to a forward direction of movement of the person, from the measured impacts to a defined threshold.

84. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to graph on a display device an indication of acceleration, along a direction of movement of the person, from the measured impacts relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

85. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to change distance between a first object displayed on the display device and a second object displayed on the display device responsive to comparison of acceleration, along a direction of movement of the person, indicated by at least one measured impact and a defined threshold.

86. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to change distance between a first object displayed on the display device and a second object displayed on the display device responsive to comparison of acceleration, along a direction of movement of the person, indicated by at least one measured impact and a value that represents an ideal impact location of the foot.

87. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate the visual warning within a foot placement informational display, on a display device, that functions as a foot placement coach while a person is running/walking.

88. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the visual warning on a display device, the visual warning notifying the person of an extent that the person is placing the foot forward when striking the surface.

89. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the visual warning on a display device, the visual warning notifying the person of a location along the foot between rear foot and forefoot that is initially striking the surface.

90. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 89, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit measures the back-to-front progression of the impact as the foot impacts the surface and rolls forward; and

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the visual warning on a display device, the visual warning notifying the person of an extent to which the foot is rolling properly based on the measurements by the impact measurement circuit.

91. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the visual warning on a display device, the visual warning notifying the person of an extent that the person is placing the foot forward when striking the surface relative to an ideal impact location of the foot forward of the body when striking the surface.

92. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 91, wherein:

the ideal impact location is calibrated based on measured impacts to correspond to a foot strike location that reduces backward impact forces against the foot.

93. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 91, wherein:

the ideal impact location is calibrated based on measured impacts to correspond to a location that provides a desired foot strike location on the foot between rear foot and forefoot.

94. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the audio warning through a sound generation device, and to regulate loudness of the audio warning in response to comparison of acceleration, along a direction of movement of the person, from the measured impacts to a defined threshold.

95. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the audio warning through a sound generation device, and to regulate loudness of the audio warning in response to comparison of an extent that the person is placing the foot forward when striking the surface relative to an ideal impact location of the foot.

96. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 95, wherein:

the ideal impact location is calibrated based on measured impacts to correspond to a foot strike location that reduces backward impact forces against the foot and/or to correspond to a location that provides a desired foot strike location on the foot between rear foot and forefoot.

97. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the audio warning through a sound generation device, and to regulate a defined tone characteristic of the audio warning in response to comparison of acceleration, in a direction opposite to a forward direction of movement of the person, from the measured impacts to a defined threshold.

98. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the audio warning through a sound generation device, and to regulate a defined tone characteristic of the audio warning in response to comparison of an extent that the person is placing the foot forward when striking the surface relative to an ideal impact location of the foot.

99. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 98, wherein:

the ideal impact location is calibrated based on measured impacts to correspond to a foot strike location that reduces backward impact forces against the foot and/or to correspond to a location that provides a desired foot strike location on the foot between rear foot and forefoot.

100. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein the impact alert circuit is further configured to:

generate a record of acceleration, along a direction of movement of the person, from the measured impacts; and

communicate the record for operation by the display device and/or another display device to graph an indication of the acceleration from the record relative to an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

101. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to be mounted on a shoe to increase sensitivity of the impact measurement from the foot striking the surface while the person is walking/running, and

the impact alert circuit comprises a wrist watch.

102. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 19, further comprising:

a tilt sensor that measures an angle of a shoe relative to the direction of movement when the shoe impacts the surface,

wherein the impact alert circuit generates an audible/visual warning to the person that provides an indication of a strike angle of the shoe based on the measured angle.

103. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 20, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is further configured to generate the defined threshold in response to measurements of impacts in response to a calibration process.

104. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 21, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another visual warning on a display device, the another visual warning notifying the person of an extent that the person is placing the foot with overpronation or supination when striking the surface.

105. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 21, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to configured to graph on the display device an indication of an extent that the person is placing the foot with overpronation or supination when striking the surface relative an elapsed time of the activity, a speed at which the person was walking/running, a stride step distance, and/or a distance that the person walked/ran.

106. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 21, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another visual warning to notify the person of an extent that the person is placing the foot with overpronation or supination when striking the surface relative to an ideal foot plant angle.

107. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 21, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another audible warning through a sound generation device, and to regulate a defined tone characteristic and/or a loudness of the another audible warning to notify the person of an extent that the person is placing the foot with overpronation or supination when striking the surface.

108. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 21, wherein:

the impact measurement circuit is configured to measure sideways rolling movement after the foot strikes the ground; and

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another visual warning on a display device to notify the person of an extent of the measured sideways rolling movement.

109. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 108, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another visual warning on the display device in response to comparison of a peak pulse segment to another segment of measurements of the sideways rolling movement.

110. The foot impact monitoring system of claim 108, wherein:

the impact alert circuit is configured to generate the another visual warning on the display device in response to comparison of the peak pulse segment to the another segment which is outside the peak pulse segment of measurements of the sideways rolling movement.