Have you thought about detecting controllers swinging on the side? People act differently when trying to jog, I just noticed trying your great work with my daughters. While I immediately tried a lightly jumping up and down walk, my youngest one instinctively walked with her arms swinging on the side; especially for smaller people, this might give you better information on a walking movement. Plus, it might be more relaxing experience to some, if they can just walk instead of jogging.
Thank you for the feedback! Arm swinging could indeed be an option in the future. One of the main reasons I have not yet explored this is that this would not work with hand tracking (both the accuracy as well as the tracking volume are not yet good enough on the quest to reliably detect this kind of motion). But with controllers this could be reliably detected I think. The only trade-off that I see at the moment is that you will not be able to freely use tools (or weapons) while moving.
The argument with arm swinging would be more relaxing is also true. At the moment the main goal of the prototype though is to explore how the gameplay mechanics and design are influenced when achieving something in-game is real effort. For this goal the jog in place is more fitting but I still plan to explore different options once I have most of the basic mechanics implemented.