VIVOBAREFOOT: A GROUNDING STUDY
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Exploring the Impact of Conductive Footwear
CLIENT:
Vivobarefoot
RESEARCH STUDY
CHALLENGE
Can grounded footwear support a more present, relaxed, and connected brain state?
Vivobarefoot wanted to explore how the Vivo Pilgrim shoe - with a unique conductive technology developed specifically to enable grounding, could impact cognitive and emotional wellbeing in everyday environments. Partnering with Kinda, we set out to explore the neuroscience of grounding in a real-world pilot study using EEG.
CREATIVE CONCEPT
From physical to cognitive grounding
Exploring the idea that grounded footwear could go beyond biomechanics, helping the brain feel more present, relaxed, and externally attuned. Kinda designed and ran a mobile EEG study in an urban park, where five participants alternated between wearing the Vivo Pilgrim and their own thick-soled trainers. The protocol included standing, walking, and stepping from insulated foam to earth to simulate acute grounding. Data was collected on brainwave frequencies, emotional state, and post-experience interviews to explore both physiological and subjective effects.
EXECUTION
Real-world EEG pilot study exploring the emotional and cognitive effects of grounded footwear
By measuring brain activity while participants wore the Vivo Pilgrim versus standard trainers, Kinda uncovered subtle but compelling neural shifts: a reduction in cognitive load, increased sensory focus, and greater emotional ease. The study proposed a new model for “cognitive grounding,” a state where the brain is less caught in control and more open to sensation.
To explore whether grounded footwear could influence how the brain feels and processes the world, our EEG study had participants alternate between wearing Vivobarefoot’s electrically conductive Pilgrim shoes and their own thick-soled trainers during a walking protocol in an urban park.
By capturing changes in brainwave activity, stress levels, and post-experience reflections, we were able to test whether grounding through the feet could promote a more relaxed and externally focused state.
The results showed incremental increases in alpha power in key brain regions linked to relaxed alertness, and a reduction in cognitive load in the Vivo condition.
Participants also showed lower stress levels and reported heightened textural awareness and a stronger sense of connection to the earth. These findings point to a shift in brain state we call cognitive grounding, where mental effort softens, control relaxes, and the brain becomes more open to sensory presence. This pilot offers an exciting glimpse into how grounding might help bring the mind back into the body, step by step.
CLIENT QUOTE PENDING