The Next Generation: What concepts should drive the design of tomorrow’s biomechanics software?
In our inaugural blog I thought it would be worthwhile to share
some of the things you have been telling us regarding the state of motion
capture. During the 24 years that we
have been providing software solutions to the research community you have
shared your opinions on what works, what doesn’t and what functionality you would
like to see in the years ahead. Here are
some of the things we have heard:
Real Time One request that
you have raised often is the desire to see live data and skeletal animations
streaming during data collection.
There are so many benefits to this: the ability to quality check while data is
collected, the ability to give biofeedback; and the simple “wow” factor that
gets subjects, patients, and athletes excited about being part of a data
collection. The MotionMonitor Classic has always been able to do this but in a
more limited way. And we were not alone, many companies say they are
“real-time” but they rarely mean that data is instantaneous. Eddie Cramp put it
well in a recent post on Biomch-L: “Some manufacturers
will say the real-time means data within ten seconds, some have delays of less
than one second, and others will provide the data with 0.01 of a second (10ms)
- but they all all say that their system is ’real-time’". It’s not a
simple problem; and as Eddie suggests, researchers should take pause and be sure
they understand what their vendor means by “real time”. In our next blog, we’ll be going into detail
on this topic.
Mobile Another request we
often hear is the ability to collect data in the field. Mobile applications provide many benefits, as
they provide solutions for common questions, like: “Do the tightly controlled experiments in the
lab actually translate to the real world?” or “How do we reach patient populations that
cannot make it to the lab?” But there are many challenges to making mobile a
reality. The equipment has to work in a variety of settings, and of course, you
are always concerned about the time it takes to setup hardware and instrument
subjects. A lot of folks in the business
have tried to make their systems “mobile”.
The optical providers have successfully achieved data collection outdoors,
but management of sun-light and setup time still remains a real challenge. And the proliferation of IMU’s and special
purpose apps run on iPhones have made it easier to setup and go, but at a
sacrifice of informational content and data accuracy. We believe true mobile for research is not a
simple problem, but one that must be addressed from the ground up.
Hybrid Only a few clients
have actually said, “We need a ‘hybrid system.’” But lots of you have said, “I wish I could
have the unique advantages that each technology offers in one package.” While it is not possible to have them in one
hardware package, it is possible to combine different technologies via software,
so that a subject can be instrumented with multiple hardware systems. Common
applications where combined hardware is beneficial include i) the use of IMU’s
and optical systems when line of sight is a problem, ii) the use of optical systems to
digitize anatomical landmarks on subjects instrumented with IMU’s, and iii) use
of 6 degree of freedom electromagnetic sensors for tracking fingers while upper
extremities are tracked with optical markers.
Make it More Powerful
Research is always about the next question. And software has to be more powerful to help
answer those questions. Integrated
Muscle Modeling and advanced math and multivariate statistical operators like
entropy and fractals; the ability to introduce user code to the software; and,
the ability to define data and write code without being a programmer are
frequent examples of things you have requested. The benefits of these are easy to see. Implementation that lends itself to
continuous enhancement in functionality without major overhaul of the software has
been more difficult to achieve.
Make it Simpler Often
researchers, athletic trainers or ergonomist have situations where they need to
study one motion or exercise repetitively. In these cases, you
don’t need full body tracking or diverse data types with many choices, rather
you need an application that is simple, with the ability to easily repeat data
collection and analysis. We have spent a lot of time trying to
reconcile this comment with the previous comment. What we have found is that to
make something appear simple (we prefer “elegant”) requires power! We’ll spend a whole posting on this topic
where we demonstrate that “Powerful” does not have to mean “Complicated.”
Make it More Flexible This
comment is seldom expressed so directly.
More frequently it is expressed in the questions our tech support people
get…”How do I plot my graph vertically?”, “When locating joint centers, how can I use the functional method for the shoulder and a digitizing method for the
knee?”,“Can I use my IMU’s with my camera system?”, “I want text to pop up in
the animation window as a signal to the subject.”, and on and on and on. We’ve been keepin’ a list! In future posts we’ll be exploring how we
have chosen to implement them in the next generation of The MotionMonitor and
how these capabilities can be used. In
the meantime, look at the bike fit application as
an example of what this flexibility enables a researcher to do.
Support Translation of Client Research. This is a topic that has resulted in much
consultation between our engineers and some of our clients. Seeing your research protocols transformed into
real world solutions, such as in a clinic, workplace or sports arena, is what
motivates you. And when the time comes,
The MotioMonitor xGen can be a great tool to help you get there. The Manual Therapy Trainer, championed by Dr. Eric Shamus, is a fine example. We’ll highlight other examples and how they
were accomplished in future posts.
Biofeedback and Understanding Human
Movement. As technology advances,
many of you are seeking the answers to deeper, more complex biofeedback
questions. These questions require complex
control feedback loops to gain a better understanding of human movement. Many
of our clients are pioneers in this respect.
When we founded our company, our original raison d’etre was to provide
real-time feedback to subjects as a way of improving performance in various sporting
activities. So, this comment is one we
understand deeply.
At the same time,
as clinical and athletic institutions move to embrace technology, the number of
applications for biofeedback within society are rapidly expanding. There’s a
demand to show data in different ways, beyond just time-series graphs, and to
use these data to drive changes in behavior. To convey feedback, you want live
animations; ones that you can control and design, but without the need to do
your own programming. We’ve worked hard to make this possible; minimizing
latency, increasing complexity and providing true flexibility, all while
utilizing research-quality data for biofeedback and analysis.
This summary is
the collective view of The MotionMonitor team.
As such it represents our guide to changes we introduce to the software
and the way we organize to provide support and training to our clients. A lot is happening at the home of The
MotionMonitor. The biggest of these is
the release of our latest version of software that we have dubbed The
MotionMonitor xGen. Five years in the making, this is the most significant
offering in our history. The ideas and
questions you have raised and are summarized in this post were the guiding
principles for its development. In
future posts, we’ll try and share how you can use these concepts to maximum benefit.
-Lee
