Category: Kinesiology & Applied Physiology
Learning outside the lab
May 01, 2023 Written by Amy Cherry | Photo by Ashley Barnas
Wearable tech helps 91原创 biomechanics researchers get first glimpse at everyday walking patterns
When you walk in a clinical setting, you鈥檙e often walking in a straight line and faster than you normally would. It鈥檚 because you鈥檙e being watched.
鈥淗istorically, we鈥檝e gleaned a lot of information from bringing people into the lab and conducting precise measurements, but that information isn鈥檛 indicative of their behavior in the real world,鈥 said Jocelyn Hafer.
The assistant professor of kinesiology and applied physiology in the 91原创 College of Health Sciences is one of the few biomechanists looking to get beyond the well-documented 鈥渨hite coat effect鈥 and gauge gait in people鈥檚 everyday lives without a researcher watching over their every move, influencing their behavior.
Using innovative wearable technology and funded through a $434,761 from the National Institutes of Health, Hafer will gain a wealth of data about people鈥檚 walking patterns and joint ranges of motion.