2018-2019-STEAM-Superheroes - Flipbook - Page 46
EPIC IDENTITY FEATURING PROF. LEIA STIRLING
someone is balanced or coordinated. IMUs, short for “inertial measurement units,” measure acceleration,
angular velocity, and orientation; they can be found in your smartphone and wearable fitness trackers. Mr.
Fineman asks his research participants to wear IMUs on different parts of their body (chest, upper arm,
forearm, and wrist) while walking and doing other activities. The IMUs send their data to his computer
where Mr. Fineman is able to analyze in detail how each participant walks.
One thing he has learned is that where someone wears their wearable matters! The data he captures
from each sensor is different, so IMU placement is an important step in the experimental design process.
He is first having healthy people do this study to establish what a healthy walk looks like, but then he hopes
to study clinical populations—people with conditions that affect their walk. His ultimate goal is to develop
a method for a clinician (doctor, nurse, physical therapist, etc.) to see how their patients walk and move
between appointments.
As wearable technology becomes commonplace, Prof. Leia’s work on understanding the data these devices
collect becomes more and more relevant. From developing her own wearable technology to solve problems
on Mars (and Earth), to breaking down seemingly simple actions using ubiquitous sensors, to working with
clinicians to care for their patients better, we can all benefit from her work, and be inspired to think critically
about wearable technology.
Learn more about Prof. Leia Stirling
Stirling Group (Website) http://stirling.mit.edu/
Prof. Leia Stirling’s group website, with information about the research that she and her colleagues
conduct in the fields of experimental biomechanics, human-machine interaction, wearable devices,
exoskeleton control systems, and space physiology
Man Vehicle Laboratory (Website) https://mvl.mit.edu/
The Man Vehicle Laboratory at MIT, co-directed by Profs. Leia Stirling and Jeff Hoffman, “is a research
group within the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Founded in 1962, MVL’s goal is to
better define the physiological and cognitive limitations of pilots and passengers of aircraft and spacecraft,
and to optimize overall human-vehicle system effectiveness and safety,” according to its website.
Avoiding stumbles, from spacewalks to sidewalks (MIT News)
An MIT News article about the vibrating footwear created in Prof. Stirling’s lab to help astronauts and the
visually impaired detect upcoming obstacles
http://news.mit.edu/2016/vibrating-footwear-astronauts-visually-impaired-0722
These boots keep astronauts from tripping over their own feet (Wired)
A video and article from Wired about the vibrating footwear created in Prof. Stirling’s lab
https://www.wired.com/2017/02/boots-keep-astronauts-tripping-feet/
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