A shoe-independent system to synthesize real-time footstep sounds on different materials has been
developed. A footstep sound is considered as the result of an interaction between an exciter (the shoe) and a
resonator (the floor). To achieve our goal, we propose two different solutions. The first solution is based on
contact microphones attached on the exterior part of each shoe, which capture the sound of a footstep. The
second approach consists on using microphones placed on the floor. In both situations, the captured sound is
analysed and used to control a sound synthesis engine. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the two
approaches.