Jogging the distance

People enjoy jogging with others for social and motivational reasons. However, as reported by forum participants, finding a compatible, local jogging partner who shares the ability to jog at the same pace for the same duration is not always easy. One possible way to overcome this challenge is to expand the range of potential jogging partners by allowing for interaction with remote joggers. We investigated whether a jogging experience supporting conversation between remote partners could be desirable and motivating. We conducted an experiment with 18 volunteers using conventional mobile phones with headsets to support conversations as participants jogged in disjoint, outdoor areas. Results show that a simple audio connection supports participants' need to socialize and allows partners to encourage each other.