BioMotion Center
Our research is driven by the interest in human movement, which is an important aspect of human life as it ensures physical mobility and thus interaction with the environment.
Against this background, the aim of our research is to understand the functioning of human movements, i.e. the interplay of the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system, which enables coordinated movement behavior. Of particular interest to us is how training protocols need to be structured and how modern technologies (e.g. orthoses or exoskeletons) need to be designed in order to improve this interplay and thereby motor performance in different areas (e.g. everyday life, sports or therapy). Our research addresses the following topics:
- Control and biomechanics of human movements
- Effects of learning / training on the control and biomechanics of human movements
- Effects of sports (e.g. running shoes), medical (e.g. orthoses) and assistive (e.g. exoskeletons) technologies on the control and biomechanics of human movements
- Performance diagnostics in different areas (e.g. sports or therapy)
To achieve these goals, we work as an interdisciplinary team that connects different strands of research from sports science, neuroscience, medicine, computer and engineering science within the framework of experimental and computational studies.
At the IfSS, the BioMotion Center represents the natural sciences of sports (motor control, biomechanics, training science, sports informatics & engineering). We are anchored in the KIT research structures via memberships in the KIT Centers „Information · Systems · Technologie“ and „Health Technologies“
The DFG “Major Research Instrumentation” application “Instrumented split-belt treadmill with VR functionality for the analysis of human locomotion” from the IfSS professorships Stein, Woll, Sell and Bub was approved. This means that from summer 2024 the IfSS will have a new, state-of-the-art treadmill available for biomechanical experiments.
Steingrebe, H., Spancken, S., Sell, S. & Stein, T. (2023). Effects of hip osteoarthritis on lower body joint kinematics during locomotion tasks:
a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Front. Sports Act. Living 5:1197883.
Herzog, M., Krafft, F.C., Stetter, B.J. et al. (2023). Rollator usage lets young individuals switch movement strategies in sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit tasks. Sci Rep 13, 16901.
Prof. Stein will be a member of the “Council for Research and Promotion of Young Scientists” at KIT from October 2023.
Prof. Stein gave the lecture "Control and Adaptation of Human Movements" at the "International Autumn School on Movement Science".
Michael Herzog presented his research on "Muscle Synergies in Force Field Adaptation and Spatial Transfer" at the annual meeting of the "International Society of Motor Control" in Rome.
Hannah Steingrebe, Cagla Fadillioglu and Dr. Bernd Stetter presented their current research results at the conference of the dvs Section Biomechanics in Magdeburg.
Sina Spancken presented her current research results on performance diagnostics in Olympic shooting sports at the „dvs Hochschultag“ in Bochum.