We can video tape all we want, and we can even track them on the computer with those little white balls, but we don't know exactly how the athlete is using their body to their distinct advantage.

My idea is to delve into this realm of monitoring actual muscle actuations.

An athlete will put on a tight suit laden with sensors for each major muscle section of the body. The body will also be tracked for movement as well as breathing (for many sports, breathing rhythms are very important).

The athlete can then be tracked in how they move in relation to which muscles they use. This would be very useful for boxers, wrestlers, martial artists, and other sports that require quick reflexes that seem to come out of nowhere. Observers can now see which muscles the athlete are tensing and which they are relaxing. It will all be shown on a 3D screen that shows muscle actuation on a color scale much like we see infrared, with white being fully actuated-tensed, to black as being completely relaxed.

A pupil could then see which muscles to tense when and which muscles to relax and when.

I'm sure this technology can be applied to many other fields such as military for use in controlling huge robots through muscle tenses, to disabled (of which are already using a rudimentary version of this device). It can be used to troubleshoot student athletes by having their performance mapped, and observed by a professional, which can then tell him where to improve.
-- twitch, Jun 17 2007

Concept Validated! http://www.gizmag.c...magic-mirror/11219/
Well looky here! [twitch, Mar 14 2009]

(?) Motion analysis FAQ http://www.univie.ac.at/cga/faq.html
Some clinical stuff [VaquitaTim, Mar 20 2009]

Nobody? Nothing? come on!
-- twitch, Jun 19 2007


Sounds like a very good idea, how about the motion cpature suits that are used in video games and animations? They are very similar, in fact you could create a 3d model of the "Student" and load the "correct" moves onto a life size screen. The students body is then connected to the screen and his moves mirrored. The screen would be displaying the correct move and the student has to copy it. The "muscle watching" software records the information and tells the student where he can improve his technique. Pretty soon we can all box like Ali or bend a ball like beckham! What a training aid that would be. I imagine a screen like those used in "total recall" except with muscle overlay enabled. Bun,bun and triple bun.
-- S-note, Jun 19 2007


Brilliant! But you don't need a heavy suit; Electroids attached to the skin should be able to detect the electrical signals.
-- Voice, Jun 20 2007


S-note, I:ll do you one beter: Attach a suit that uses electricity to externally power muscles in just the right way to mimic the athlete. Done enough times, I can hit like woods in my sleep!
-- Voice, Jun 20 2007


Wow... those ARE good ideas... Not only monitoring but having the suit give you help where your technique is off or something of the sort. We are geniuses.
-- twitch, Jun 20 2007


well, for those who have practical ideas, isn't it nice to see them created by a group of smart people...

See Link!
-- twitch, Mar 14 2009


This idea is fully baked using the "little white balls" you speak of. Those "little white balls" (LWB) are as good as it gets. Science is trying to do better, but you people just have to rub it in, don't you. As far as I know, the only purpose of the LWB is to give the point contrast from the black background. Allowing their position to be plotted on computer. Perhaps many more LWBs affixed to the athlete would be better... I dare say it: there could be a suit with hundreds of LWB painted on it.
-- knowtion, Mar 14 2009


Knowtion, your balls seem a little deficient. You assume only visual tracking, when you should read the article, and the link. My balls can measure muscle response by being in themselves electromyographs, which is exactly the case in the link. I only didn't know what the technology was called, that sensed muscle tensing.
-- twitch, Mar 19 2009


[knowtion] is right, though I wouldn't say the idea is "fully baked". LWBs (they are usually retro-reflective, and the cameras usually have IR diodes mounted on them) are used in conjunction with EMG systems in gait laboratories around the world. Not quite in a handly slip-on fully automated suit yet (as you can see in your link !). So, it's kind of possible, and it's on the way. However, there are many issues, which mean that you'll never get a hip vs. shoulder rotation as good as Tiger's...
-- VaquitaTim, Mar 20 2009



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