Instruction Assist System in Intelligent Space for Instruction of Taijiquan Motions

This paper describes an instruction assist system for instruction of Taijiquan in Intelligent Space. Taijiquan is a Chinese physical exercise whose practice is believed to be beneficial for maintaining one´s health. The instruction system provides learners with two pieces of functionality. The first measures the position and posture of the learner and simultaneously displays the measurement results as a 3-dimensional computer graphics human model with expert´s one measured in preliminary experiments. The measurement is performed with arrays of optical and ultrasonic sensors installed in the space. The second monitors load on knees of the learner, which is estimated with the measurement results and a load model, in order to avoid knee injuries which may occur in the practice. The load model is developed based on a human body link model and the measurement of electromyographic (EMG) signals from the muscles on thigh whereas the monitoring method doesn´t need measurement of EMG signals in run time.