Here's an iPhone app with some potential. Greg Elliott of Poke has released SynchStep, an app for iPhones and iPod touches that chooses songs based on your walking pace. The project began before the iPhone, conceived as a self-contained MP3 player with the necessary hardware. Upon the advent of the accelerometer-toting iPhone/touch, it became more feasible to bring the idea to the masses.
The app has a simple, good-looking interface. I couldn't get it to work very well, though, after about 20 minutes of building and analyzing playlists followed by many carefully paced steps. Quite a few people witnessed me walking quickly by, only to see me pass a while later at a much slower pace, repeated ad nauseum nauseam with an increasingly frustrated look on my face.
I love the concept, though. I want it to work and I'm hoping I'm just doing something wrong. Maybe you should give it a try. I've always wanted a real-time, personal soundtrack. Coincidentally, the previous name for the project was PersonalSoundtrack, which I mention only because I like the former moniker slightly better for its more intimate connotations. Now, back to walking around like I'm in a Monty Python sketch.
Update: After working a little with the Greg (the very helpful developer), I'm happy to report that I do actually have a personal soundtrack now. I had initially assumed that SynchStep would round to the nearest available BPM match, but it's pretty fine-grained. The more songs you have at different BPMs, the more likely you are to get great results. The documentation has been updated to reflect this. Give it a shot, it's impressive.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2008 @ 8:29PM
Quine said...
I have the counterpart to that embedded in my brain :P I just sync my steps to my music most of the time.
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5-16-2008 @ 9:56PM
dswift said...
Helpful note intended for the entire world: it's spelled "ad nauseam."
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5-16-2008 @ 10:15PM
Brett Terpstra said...
Argh, I *knew* that. Thanks :).
5-16-2008 @ 11:40PM
JeffZ said...
Maybe it has to do with where you wear your iPhone? Not sure if it's intened to be in an armband or on your waist, perhaps. I'd love it if this works -- it'd be a great motivator to pick up the pace on the treadmill.
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5-17-2008 @ 5:14AM
Brett Terpstra said...
As detailed in the site's instructions, I had my iPod touch in the front pocket of my pants. However, I am quickly coming to believe that something may be wrong with the accelerometer in my touch...
5-17-2008 @ 1:10AM
Rick said...
wow. another pointless 3rd party app that drains my battery.
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5-17-2008 @ 3:23AM
Allister said...
This is an Apple site, right? Why is no-one mentioning a Mac-friendly BPM solution then? All I saw on the site was a Windows one.
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5-17-2008 @ 5:12AM
Brett Terpstra said...
Where exactly are you looking? beaTunes (a mac program) is the recommended BPM generator and the only download link I see provided...
5-17-2008 @ 5:18AM
Allister said...
So, I checked, using my Mac just now. Last night I spotted the app on Installer and visited the page from my iPod Touch - try it!
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5-17-2008 @ 5:30AM
Brett Terpstra said...
You're right. That's kind of funny.
5-17-2008 @ 6:07AM
w00t said...
Haha I automatically do the opposite, I adjust my walking pace to the music I'm listening to without even thinking about it!
Except when it goes over 150bpm, because I'd look ridiculous!
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5-17-2008 @ 11:39AM
Frank said...
if it'll make me walk like john cleese in that sketch, i'm in.
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5-18-2008 @ 6:00PM
greg elliott said...
hey all,
first, beaTunes is mac/win friendly. my site detects your browser and offers you the correct version.
second, brett, i'm sorry you're having issues with synchstep. let's see if we can figure it out. this app has worked well for a lot of folks during private beta testing, so i'm confident we can solve it.
are you hearing a metronome at any point during your walking? it should kick in 5-6 seconds after the start up chime finishes playing.
wanna email me so we can sort this thing out? my email is gelliott followed by the atsign then the word gmail then a dot and a com.
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