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Cassee Cain and Ziyuan Liu did not have the Microsoft Kinect when the summer rolled around, though they had an idea for it and a forum through which to demonstrate its viability. Cain and Liu of Oak Ridge, Tennessee programmed Microsoft’s dual-camera, IR-projection device to analyze human gaits as an aid for both prosthetic fitting and physical therapy, winning the team portion of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology. Over the summer, the two teens spent eight hours a day in the Oakridge National Lab, learning not only the programming languages necessary to make their software for the Kinect, but also the methodology behind gait analysis, so that their creation would be a viable tool. According to Cain, they use the Kinect to track the hip, knee, and ankle, which allows them to find the knee angle; extremely useful for therapists and clinicians both when fitting prosthetics and when conducting physical therapy and rehabilitation exercises. 
By Shelby Reiches |