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Jogging over Distance technology makes it a social experience


Technology is inexorably tied to progress, but when it busts into our lives and subtly tells us that we're doing something wrong -- in this case, getting some "us" time on a solo jog -- we've gotta admit to being a little peeved. Even for those who like to share their second most sweaty experience on the day-to-day, this is probably a bit of an overkill. A prototype technology called Jogging over Distance is being developed at the University of Melbourne which uses GPS, cellphone tech, and 3D audio simulation to make it seem as if two joggers from separate cities are actually slogging it out together. The advantage over just whipping out a cellphone is that as one runner goes faster, their voice appears to be coming from further ahead to the other runner, which could presumably help motivation. To each their own we suppose, but we'd take some loud music over the grunts of a fellow jogger any day. Or, indeed, a form of motivation that helps us -- no, forces us -- to start jogging in the first place.

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