Configure FootPOWR® Pad Help |
Topics: (For PDF HELP File Click Here)
The Configure FootPOWR Pad Window
Examples: Assigning Actions to FootPOWR Buttons
- Example 1: Configuring your FootPOWR Pad to Explore Virtual Worlds
- Example 2: Configuring your FootPOWR Pad to be a Foot Controlled Mouse
- Example 2a: Changing the Mouse Speed
How do I View My Exercise Progress?
FootPOWR Peripheral Overview
What is the FootPOWR Peripheral?
The FootPOWR peripheral lets you to use your feet to play PC Games, select software and enjoy virtual worlds. You can map each of the 9 dance pad buttons independently to your keyboard or your mouse.
For instance, many driving and racing games use the arrow keyboard buttons (Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow and Right Arrow) to control the vehicle in the game. You can configure the FootPOWR pad to generate each of these key strokes when you step on the associated FootPOWR pad arrow button. The result is that your vehicle,
- steers to the right when you step on the right arrow,
- steers to the left when you tilt step on the left arrow,
- moves forward when you step on the up arrow,
- moves backwards when you step on the down arrow.
For games that use the mouse (directional arrows can be configured) and the left and right mouse buttons, the FootPOWR can be configured to best complement the game play. Your FootPOWR comes with BasicMouse Configuration already mapped.
The FootPOWR Pad is Configurable: You can endlessly customize it
The FootPOWR pad is completely configurable. You can independently assign any of the following actions to any FootPOWR pad button,
- any key on the keyboard,
- any mouse movement (up, left, right, down),
- the middle, left, and right mouse buttons.
- You can leave some buttons not configured. This allows you to stand there and rest - or step there to log additional steps without interfering with the game. This is something many enjoy while playing Peggle.
You can create your own custom configurations and save each to a configuration file, to be loaded at a later time.
Exercise Logging
When using the FootPOWR pad, all of your footsteps are logged to files on your computer system. You can view stats like steps, steps-per-minute, miles-per-hour, distance, time, and estimated calories for each day that you use the pad. A daily graph of steps-per-minute and miles-per-hour is also available.
The Configure FootPOWR Pad Window
The Configure FootPOWR Pad window is shown in Figure 1. This is where you can assign actions to the FootPOWR buttons, and save these custom configurations for later use.
Opening the Configure FootPOWR Window
To open this window,
- make sure that the FootPOWR pad is plugged into your computer system,
-
click on the FitXF icon
(on the Windows® taskbar) to open the FitXF Server window,
- then click on the on the Configure FootPOWR pad button.
The Assignment Buttons
In the Figure 1, the 8 buttons are used to assign an action to to each associated FootPOWR pad button. These are called the Assignment Buttons.
Assigned Device
If the FootPOWR button is assigned to an action, the assigned device will be shown in the upper left-hand corner of the Assignment Button. For instance in Figure 1,
- the Left Arrow FootPOWR pad button is assigned to the left mouse movement,
- the Right Arrow FootPOWR pad button is assigned to the right mouse movement,
- the Up Arrow FootPOWR pad button is assigned to the right mouse button,
- the Down Arrow FootPOWR pad button is assigned to the left mouse button,
- the X, Circle, Triangle and Square FootPOWR buttons are not assigned.
Figure 1. The Configure FootPOWR Pad window.
Loading and Saving Configuration Files
The FootPOWR pad can be configured to play many different types of games. You can name and save each custom configuration to a file on your computer. Then your configuration files can be loaded at a later time to play the game.
Examples:
Examples: Assigning Actions to FootPOWR Buttons
Example 1: Configuring your FootPOWR Pad to Explore Virtual Worlds
Most virtual worlds like SecondLife.com, IslandWorlds.com and There.com can be explored using the arrow keys on your keyboard. This example will configure the FootPOWR pad so that you can explore these programs using your feet. When finished with this example, your configuration screen should look like Figure 2.
Figure 2. Configuration of Example 1.
Steps:
- Remove any assignments by loading the configuration file disable.dpcfg. To do this, click on the Load button and select the file disable.dpcfg.
- Click on the Up Arrow Assignment Button (see Figure 1). The Assignment Popup Menu will appear on top of the button (Figure 3).
- Click on the menu item Assign To Keyboard. The Assign to Keyboard Key window (Figure 4) will appear.
- Press the Up Arrow key on the keyboard. The window will automatically close.
- Now, when you step on the UpArrow pad button, the FootPOWR pad will simulate an Up Arrow key press. This has the effect of moving your character forward.
- Note that there is now a keyboard icon in the upper left hand corner of the Up Arrow Assignment Button. Note also that the text "Up" appears to the right of the keyboard icon.
- Repeat the above steps to assign the,
- Right Arrow Assignment Button to the Right Arrow key,
- Left Arrow Assignment Button to the Left Arrow key,
- Down Arrow Assignment Button to the Down Arrow key.
Your FootPOWR pad is now configured to explore virtual worlds.
Save your configuration to a file so that it can be loaded at a later time. To do this,
- Click on the Save button. The Save FootPOWR Pad Config File window will open.
- Change the Filename to Ex1_VirtualWorlds.
- Click on the Save button.
In the future, when you want to use the FootPOWR pad to explore virtual worlds, you can can configure the it simply by clicking on the Load button, and selecting the Ex1_VirtualWorlds.gccfg file.
Figure 3. Assignment Popup Menu.
Figure 4. Assign To Keyboard Key window.
Example 2: Configuring your FootPOWR Pad to be a Foot-Controlled Mouse
In this example, you will configure the FootPOWR pad to act like a mouse. You will be able to use your feet to move the mouse cursor and to click on the left and right mouse buttons. When finished with this example, your configuration screen should look like Figure 5.
Figure 5. Configuration of Example 2.
Steps:
- Remove any assignments by loading the configuration file disable.dpcfg. To do this, click on the Load button and select the file disable.dpcfg.
- Click on the Up Arrow Assignment Button (see Figure 1). The Assignment Popup Menu will appear on the button (Figure 3).
- Click on the menu item Assign To Mouse. The Assign to Mouse window (Figure 6) will appear.
- Click on the blue Up Arrow in the Assign to Mouse window. The window will automatically close.
- Now when you step on the Up Arrow on the dance pad, your mouse cursor will move upwards.
- Note that there is now a mouse icon in the upper left hand corner of the Up Arrow Assignment Button.
- Repeat the above steps to assign the,
- Right Arrow Assignment Button to the Rightmouse movement,
- Left Arrow Assignment Button to the Leftmouse movement,
- Down Arrow Assignment Button to the Downwardmouse movement,
- X Assignment Button to the Left mouse button,
- Circle Assignment Button to the Right mouse button.
Your FootPOWR pad is now configured to be a foot-controlled mouse.
Save your configuration to a file so that it can be loaded at a later time. To do this,
- Click on the Save button. The Save FootPOWR Pad Config File window will open.
- Change the Filename to Ex2_FootMouse.
- Click on the Save button.
In the future, when you want to use the FootPOWR pad to explore virtual worlds, you can can configure the it simply by clicking on the Load button, and selecting the Ex2_FootMouse.gccfg file.
Figure 6. Assign To Mouse window.
Example 2a: Changing the Mouse Speed
In this example you will change the speed that the mouse moves when you step on a FootPOWR pad button assigned to mouse movement.
Steps:
- Load the configuration file that you created in example 2 (Ex2_FootMouse.gccfg), or go through example 2 to create the file.
- Click on the Mouse Speed dropdown box and select a different value. The higher the number the faster the mouse cursor will move when you step on a FootPOWR pad button that is assigned to mouse movement.
What are Configuration Files?
Configuration files are used to store the mappings of the FootPOWR pad. You can create your own custom configurations for the games that you play. One example is described at the 'World of Goo" page of our DigiFootG Arcade area.
How do I Load (Open) a Configuration file?
- Press the Load button to open the Open FootPOWR Pad Config File window.
- Select a configuration file from the list. Configuration files have a .dpcfg extension.
- Press the Open button to load the configuration.
How do I Save a Configuration file?
To save your current configuration,
- Press the Save Configuration button to open the Save FootPOWR Pad Config File window.
- Change the File name in the window (optional).
- Press the Save button to save the current configuration to a file.
How do I View My Exercise Progress?
Press the View Exercise Logs button in the FitXF main window to open the FootPOWRLog Viewer (Figure 7).
Introduction
If the FootPOWR pad is connected to your computer system, your
activity is automatically collected for you by the FitXF Server
background application. By default, this FitXF software will
start up automatically when you turn on your computer, so there
is nothing that you need to do to enable this feature. The
logging application is running in the background whenever the
FitXF icon is
on your taskbar.
An exercise log file is automatically created for each day that you use the pad. Use the FootPOWR Log Viewer (Figure 7) to view the your exercise activity for any day that you've used the pad. When you open this dialog box, the exercise information for the most recent day is displayed.
The Select Date group
The Select Date group contains three dropdown boxes ( Year, Month and Day). Use these dropdown boxes to select the date of the exercise log that you want to view. The rest of the controls in the dialog box display your exercise information for the selected date. When selecting a date, start with the Year, then the Month, then the Day.
Hint: if a dropdown box is selected, you can use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys on the keyboard to change its value.
The Totals group
The following information is displayed in each group.
- Minutes - Total time that you've used the pad for the selected date.
- Steps- The total number of steps taken on the pad for the selected date.
- Miles- The equivalent number of miles (based on steps) for the selected date.
- Calories - The approximate number of calories burned for the selected date.
The calories calculation depends upon your weight. You can press the Calorie Settings button to enter your weight. The calorie calculation is only an approximation and is provided for reference. Actual calories burned would also depend upon other factors, including your fitness level.
The Averages group
The following information is displayed in each group.
- Steps/Min - Average steps per minute for the selected date.
- Miles/Hour- Estimated average speed (in miles-per-hour) for the selected date.
Figure 7. The Exercise History Viewer.
