Raising a hand, stepping a foot--while our limb is moving, involuntary adjustment function is activated to maintain the postural balance of the body. This project explores the mechanism of human postural control during voluntary movement. It is expected to contribute health science in terms of fall prevention.
Interception is a demanding act in which one hit or capture a moving object with their hand, tool, and others. We investigate the ball-catching behavior in virtual environment to reveal functionally coupled processing of visual input and motor output. Applications of virtual reality for skill training is also our concern.
Injuries in sports frequently occur in the lower extremity such as ankle sprain and anterior cruciate ligament damage. We use a motion analysis procedure called "point cluster technique" to provide biomechanical evidence for the mechanism of traumatic injury and intervention effect of prevention training.
Expert players sense the intention of their opponent and make a correct decision very quickly. We attempt to make a quantitative estimation about the relation between opponent's motion and player's prediction by utilizing computer graphics display. Kinematic simulation is employed for creating the motion stimuli.
A wavy limb movement called "whipping motion" is observed in throwing or hitting actions. This project illustrates the mechanical properties of swing motion from the computational analyses such as inverse dynamics and energy flow. The project now expands into outreach activities for supporting athletes and coaches.