c ©2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-31534-3 78 By implementing a combination of an activity recognition with a map-supported particle filter we were able to significantly improve the positioning of our navigation system for blind people. The activity recognition recognizes walking forward or backwa...

A battery of 37 tasks was assembled for neuropsychiatric assessment of cognitive functioning, motor control, perceptual abilities, vigilance, and neuromaturational status. In order to determine developmental changes within a normal population, a test battery was administered to 90 middle-class grade school children (50 boys and 40 girls), who ranged in age from 4 to 14. Statistical assessment o...

Materials and methods Thirty four females with senile osteoporosis, aged 65-84 years, were examined. All patients were divided into two randomized groups. Both groups participated in the same physiotherapy program (antigravity, strengthening, balance, stretching, coordination, circulatory, respiratory, relaxation exercises). The only difference between the two groups was the type of walking tra...

A 70-year-old woman presented with a 2-year history of progressive difficulty in walking with frequent falls. Neurologic examination showed postural instability with backward falls, vertical supranuclear gaze palsy with normal vestibular-ocular reflex, rigidity, and pyramidal signs in the right limbs. There was no clinical response to levodopa. Laboratory serologic tests had normal results. MRI...

Studies with time-limited point-lights suggested that biological motion does not require local motion detection. These studies used walkers seen from the side, but biological motion perception excels also when walkers are oriented toward the observer, or in intermediate, half-profile views. In perspective projection, the local motion of points on the body provides a cue to the 3D structure of t...

Prior to developing any specific fall detection algorithm, it is critical to distinguish the unique motion features associated with fall accidents. The current study aimed to investigate the upper trunk angular kinematics during slip-induced backward falls and activities of daily living (ADLs). Ten healthy older adults (age = 75 ± 6 yr (mean ± SD)) were involved in a laboratory study. Sagittal ...