Comment by mikeash
9 years ago
A similar phenomenon occurs with aircraft altimeters. They move smoothly in small propellor planes but tend to stick and then jump maybe 50ft at a time in gliders. Tapping the altimeter is standard procedure if you want to see small movements.
And also with humans! Vibrating insoles can make the elderly less prone to falls, because adding noise can bring the signal of differential pressures on parts of the foot high enough for them to feel that they're off-balance before they're unable to recover.
It might even help on maintaining your bones healthy ! [1]
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27145947