... and smartphones make us walk like we’re 80 years old!

SMARTPHONES have changed the way we walk down the street, scientists claim.

Users walk like pensioners as they check emails and messages on the go. Researchers found that mobile phones make us walk more slowly, with exaggerated steps, to avoid obstacles that are harder to see as we stare at the screen.

People writing a text message walk more than twice as slowly as those without a phone, find it harder to stay in a straight line and lift their foot 18 per cent higher above a pavement edge, say the team from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

Their stride is more than a third shorter, as they rely on peripheral vision to avoid falling over while distracted by their phone.

Lead author Dr Matthew Timmis said: ‘We are seeing people who walk like 80-year-olds with their smartphones. They move slowly and cautiously with small steps, but when stepping over hazards lift their feet higher and more slowly.

‘People are significantly increasing their head flexion and looking down much more when reading or typing a text message. We have not looked at the longer term adaptations to how people walk, but this could have an effect on their lower back and neck through altering posture.’

The scientists, whose work was published in the journal PLOS ONE, fitted 21 people with eye trackers and motion analysis sensors before making them negotiate an obstacle similar in height to a roadside kerb.

They examined 252 separate scenarios, with participants walking while reading a text message, writing one, speaking on their phone or without their phone at all.

Writing a text is the most demanding activity, leading people to walk 118 per cent more slowly than when they were without their phone and take a 38 per cent shorter stride. Users walked almost a third more slowly while reading a text and 19 per cent slower while talking.

Smartphones also prevented users walking in a straight line, which increased the risk of collisions and so reduced speed. Dr Timmis said being on the phone ‘fundamentally changes’ the way people walk.