The University of Canberra's professor of physiotherapy Gordon Waddington and assistant professor Jeremy Witchalls, who are conducting world-first studies into movement perception, have created an insole which is inserted into ballet shoes to provide dancers with extra ''grip'' and more control over their movements.

The PVC shoe insert, which is being tested by dancers at The Australian Ballet School in Melbourne, was created following results obtained by the Omeda Ankle machine, a device that also was developed by Dr Waddington and his team.

The Omeda tool and the shoe insert measures how well dancers detect small movements on the soles of their feet.

According to Dr Waddington, the design of ballet slippers has remained unchanged since the 1600s, through this research he hopes to discover how to protect aspiring and professional dancers from lower-leg injuries by slightly modifying the shoe.

''We are looking at the possibility of improving the information that the dancer receives through their shoe to improve their movement and balance control,'' Dr Waddington said.

''What I've seen so far is that when we put these insoles in the shoe their ability to recognise and navigate small angles on the surface of the ground actually improves quite a lot. They feel the ground much better.''

Classical kinetic educator at the Australian Ballet School Janet Karin, a long-time fan of Dr Waddington's work, has so far had positive anecdotal responses from her students who are undergoing the 11-week testing period.

''I came across Gordon's work and the research he was doing into the movement of footballers and geriatrics more than 10 years ago, but the technology wasn't available back then. These changes could be revolutionary not just for dancing but for all movement-based sports and activities,'' Ms Karin said.

''We are four weeks into the trial and are just using the insert, which is like special stair trend in the shoes, for barre work at the moment. Some have said they don't notice it, while some others have said they find it 'interesting'.''

Ballet is one element of Dr Waddington's movement study.

Through his studies of surface perception, he is looking into injury prevention in other sports such as aerial skiing and the impact movement control has on a person who has received a concussion through contact sport.

''My research week sees me working with ballet dancers at one end and dealing with big rugby league footballers at the other,'' Dr Waddington said.

''All of these people are quite similar, believe it or not, as they rely on having a very good perception of surface and the ground they are moving over. They rely on having very good movement control to do the things they need to do safely.''