Different types of plantar vibration affect gait characteristics differently while walking on different inclines.

When walking downhill, any perceivable (supra-threshold) vibration on the plantar area decreased the stride time. Also, the increase in step width was observed by non-perceivable (sub-threshold) plantar vibration while walking uphill. These observations were crucial as follows: (1) applying sub-threshold plantar vibrations during uphill walking could increase the base of support, and (2) for those who may need challenges in locomotor training, applying supra-threshold vibration during downhill walking could reach this specific training goal.