OpenSim, open-source software that is designed to accurately model human motion, is on display at The Leonardo, a science and technology museum in Salt Lake City. Designed by Scott Delp, PhD, a professor of bioengineering, mechanical engineering, and orthopedic surgery at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif, OpenSim was created to help medical professionals and bioengineers study, diagnose, and correct abnormalities in how people move.
The Leonardo exhibit consists of two parts. The first invites visitors to walk across a pressure-sensitive floor, presenting them at the end with a color-coded printout of their weight distribution, identifying even slight imbalances that may be putting unnecessary stress on their limbs and joints.
“This one is fun because people can insert various orthotics in their shoes and see how they affect their movement,” says Andy Anderson, PhD, a research assistant professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City. Anderson was the driving force behind OpenSim’s involvement in the exhibit.
The second part of the exhibit is for a younger audience. The OpenSim development team is creating an interactive soccer game, where a real-world player adjusts the strength of two leg muscles on the simulated soccer player in order to kick a virtual ball into a virtual net.
“This is a simplified version of our software, but by honing things down to just two muscles we can make the science of movement something kids can understand and have fun with,” says Jennifer Hicks, PhD, a mechanical engineer and the OpenSim project manager at Stanford.
The OpenSim development team hopes that the application will not only be able to help delay or avoid hip and knee replacements, but will eventually help in the development of prosthetics that are able to read and interpret electrical impulses to control the devices.
Source:http://www.ptproductsonline.com/news/2011-10-28_02.asp
