Those hobbit shoes fascinate me.  I want to try them out, now. 

I can't say I've ever had any complaints about walking barefoot indoors.  I'm always happy to take my shoes off, though I admit to quite often wearing rather impractical shoes.

kho: The interesting thing about your article, is they seem to be saying that it's not the shoes themselves that cause issues, but rather people's attitudes resulting from wearing the shoes.  For example, it says:

"Auburn graduate student Justin Shroyer explained that their test showed that people are 'very concerned about stubbing their toes particularly as they swing their leg through.'

'What we found is that people take shorter strides and that their ankle angle … the angle between their shin and the top of their foot … is actually increased … [We] attribute the change in ankle to protecting the toes as the foot swings through, but also to keeping the flip-flop on the foot so that it doesn't fly off as they swing forward. And so they do alter their gait,' said Shrover.

So, people walked differently because they worried about how wearing the shoes would effect their feet, not because the shoes themselves caused the problem.

Interesting discussion. I am surprised that the "Hobbit feet" shoes - that is how I call them - were not considered in the study. Still not sure what I should think about them, they look kind of "weird"

http://www.vibramfivefingers.com/

Interesting discussion.   In my experience, walking in bare feet at home hurts- it feels like my feet are flattening at that seems to put pressure on my arch, ankle, and knee.    And thin flip flops feel that they protect my foot, but still strain my arch, ankle, and knee.   But, a well-broken in part of thick soled flips feels great from the arch to the hip.     Of course this is purely anecdotal.    I wonder if anyone has studied this?