Calculation and visualization of the dynamic ability of the human body

There is a great demand for data on the mobility and strength capability of the human body in many areas, such as ergonomics, medical engineering, bio mechanical engineering, computer graphics (CG) and virtual reality (VR). Th is paper proposes a new method that enables the calculation of the maximal force exertable and acceleration performable by a human body during arbitra ry motion. A musculoskeletal model of the legs is used for the calculation. Using our algorithm, it is possible to evaluate whether a given posture or motion is a feasible one. A fool to visualize the calculated maximal feasi bility of each posture is developed. The obtained results can be used as cr iteria of manipulability or strength capability of the human body, importan t in ergonomics and human animation. Since our model is muscle-based, it is possible to simulate and visualize biomechanical effects such as fatigue a nd muscle training. The solution is based on linens programming and the res ults can be obtained in veal time. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Lt d.