Posture analysis and evaluation for modeling in elderly adults

Abstract

In this study, from the viewpoints of enhancing communication of elderly people, we suggest a model to estimate the distortion value of the human body caused by aging as a new index of aging, which is “distortion age,” measured using the robotic “DOCTOR’S EYE”, which is equipped with Kinect. As a result, we found a more significant difference of the distortion in the front–back direction of elderly participants between standing and walking than in the distortion of young participants. We also determined the necessity of measuring the difference for a precise evaluation of the distortion and the effectiveness of the easy measurement method of distortion during walking, such as Kinect. In addition, as the results of the analysis of the relationship between the aging and the distortion, we found the two kinds of positive correlations between age of the elderly participants and the horizontal distance between the positions of the head and shoulder, and between age and the value of differences between the horizontal distances of standing and walking. Finally, based on these two correlations, we proposed the model to estimate the distortion age of elderly people for engineering applications, such as installment of the DOCTOR’S EYE.