Another approach has been to measure the way in which the sensory system is stimulated by measuring as closely possible as the information provided to the sensory system during equipment use. Forces and pressures have been measured at the interface between an athlete and their equipment to analyse the influence of contact pressure on perceived comfort of PPE, footwear and apparel. Grip forces have been measured in sports such as tennis and golf as this is the only point of contact between the player and the club or racket.

In sports that involve an impact, typically between some form of implement (club, bat, racket) and a projectile (ball, shuttlecock etc), the sound and vibration from impact has been found to have a significant influence on the ‘feel’ of sports equipment. Jon’s research has utilised a number of different approaches to determine the source of the sound, the product properties that influence the characteristics of the sound/vibration generated and the influence of sound/vibration on the perceptions of the user. For example, jury evaluations have been conducted where recorded sounds were replayed to participants using calibrated headphones to recreate the acoustic experience and perceptions of the different sounds were captured and correlated with the sound characteristics