Mobile augmented reality systems use general purpose computing hardware to perform tasks such as rendering computer graphics, providing video overlay, and performing vision tracking. Our current Tinmith-Metro modelling system implements a user interface which is based on tracking the motions of gloves worn by the user, but is implemented inefficiently in a mobile laptop carried on a backpack by...

The backpack is one of the several forms of manual load carriage that provides versatility and is often used by bikers, backpackers and soldiers, as well as school students. However, musculoskeletal problems associated with backpack use have become an increasing concern with school children . The combined effects of heavy load, position of the load on the body, size and shape of the load, load ...

The purpose of the study was to describe the range of relative backpack weights of one group of elementary-aged children and the extent to which they exceeded recommended levels. A second purpose was to explore whether gender and age help predict the relative weight of children's backpacks. Ninety-five 8- to 12-year-old elementary school students (56% girls; 88% car or bus riders) participated....

There is now extensive evidence to support James J. Gibson’s (1966, 1979) hypothesis that our perception of the environment is scaled in terms of our ability to act on that environment; by its affordances. One strand of evidence comes from Proffitt, who has shown that changing a person’s ability to act affects how they judge their ability to perform an upcoming task. The most famous example (Bh...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether backpack weight is associated with back pain and back pathology in school children. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Schools in Northern Galicia, Spain. PATIENTS All children aged 12-17. INTERVENTIONS Backpack weight along with body mass index, age and gender. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Back pain and back pathology. RESULTS 1403 school children were ...

A quasi-passive leg exoskeleton is presented for load-carrying augmentation during walking. The exoskeleton has no actuators, only ankle and hip springs and a knee variabledamper. Without a payload, the exoskeleton weighs 11.7 kg and requires only 2 Watts of electrical power during loaded walking. For a 36 kg payload, we demonstrate that the quasi-passive exoskeleton transfers on average 80% of...

We have developed the suspended-load backpack, which converts mechanical energy from the vertical movement of carried loads (weighing 20 to 38 kilograms) to electricity during normal walking [generating up to 7.4 watts, or a 300-fold increase over previous shoe devices (20 milliwatts)]. Unexpectedly, little extra metabolic energy (as compared to that expended carrying a rigid backpack) is requi...

In the study, the influence of different boot prototype stiffness on gait kinematics and kinetics was investigated. The boot stiffness was determined by force-deformation measurement while pressing the foot model inserted into the boot by a custom-made robot. Gait analysis was carried out in nine neurologically intact subjects during walking while wearing two different boots with and without ca...