Stanford's Open Source Human Motion Software

eldavojohn writes "Stanford's OpenSim software is a human motion modeling package that is currently making the rounds at museums where 'visitors walk across a pressure-sensitive floor and are presented at the other side with color-coded print outs of their weight distribution, identifying even slight imbalances that might be putting undue stress on their limbs and joints.' This project can also help with planning surgery (video). The work has been published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (note that this is a different effort from the virtual world of the same name). Although Stanford's press release says it is now open source, I cannot find what license they are using, nor can I access their SVN browser after registering."

Comments

Is there a word for that?

[blair1q]

There should be a word for drawing attention to something that could have a completely different explanation.

"Bullshit" seems a bit broad.

If my weight is slightly imbalanced, it's probably because, like all humans, I am built asymmetrically, and I carry things in my pockets, or hands, or slung over my shoulder. And unless I am feeling pain it is unlikely that undue stress is being put on any part of my body.

Re:Is there a word for that?

[bennomatic]

Well, you can have a lot of undue stress before pain comes; don't confuse "undue" with "acute". You could sit, maybe without noticing it at all, in a chair that has a 2-degree lean without feeling any pain for a long time. But that tilt could conceivably train your body to work at a less-than-optimal angle, and you could be building up strength to support it which later--when you get a good chair--causes your body to pull even further out of alignment.

Or another undue-vs-acute example might be pack-a-day smokers. They often feel great about it. For years! Until suddenly they don't, and it's difficult to quit. Just because they weren't feeling pain doesn't mean they weren't stressing their bodies.

Re:Is there a word for that?

[blair1q]

I can understand a day, a week, or months without noticing imbalance.

But we use our feet from birth to whenever. If you've grown up with an imbalanced gait, you're probably aware of it by now, and its deleterious effects have manifest.

This whole thing sounds like the sort of "test" given by chiropractors and scientologists. Find a dysmorphism that's natural and unthreatening, then claim it's unnatural and threatening, then charge a lot for the cure, which may be worse than the non-problem (and don't forget to denigrate traditional remedies, since they're competition even if they're much better cures for actual cases of the problem).

Re:Is there a word for that?

[zaidsimra]

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Re:Is there a word for that?

[Jmc23]

Have you ever watched people walk? You can't see what you don't understand.

License/Source Code

[Majestros]

I have used this software before. You need to register as a "developer" to get access to the source code. Also, I'm pretty sure I recall that it used the MIT license (I think this was it), one that can be forked for profit, which struck me as dangerous as the software it is somewhat attempting to replicate, Simm, was originally made by the same principal investigator and was free until they spun off a company to develop it and now is something like $20,000 a year for an education license . . . .

Re:License/Source Code

[Daniel Phillips]

I don't have a problem with MIT license or anybody spinning off a proprietary for-profit version. Charge what the market will bear, that does not devalue the original gift to the community. I do have to say though that the "developer wall" barrier is just going to drive away most developers. Prove me wrong!

The developer wall is not a complete stopper for me. It just puts this project right near the bottom of my interest list. My take on it at the moment is that Stanford as an institution does not get open source.

Did anybody succeed in checking the source out of Subversion?

Re:License/Source Code

[Daniel Phillips]

By the way, one of the nice features of the MIT license is, anybody can take the code and GPL it.

Sounds familiar

[treeves]

a lot like Wii Fit, to be exact. Except Wii Fit gives you exercises to try to improve your balance. This just tells you if there's a problem.

Commercial Version

[chill]

Soon to be followed by a version that recommended custom padded insoles for your shoes.

Oh, wait...

Virtual word

[TuringTest]

The work has been published in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (note that this is a different effort from the virtual world of the same name).

There's a virtual world called IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering?? ...

How do I sign up?

Old news

[PSandusky]

OpenSim's been around for years. Slow news day, Slashdot?