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In 1975 we were on the Ground
Biomechanics of Athletic Shoe Design
G. B. Ariel
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
 
In 1995 we are in Cyberspace
 
BIOMECHANICAL APPLICATIONS IN CYBERSPACE
by
Gideon Ariel, Ph.D.
Cyberspace is a term created by William Gibson in his novel, Neuromancer, to represent a
universe sustained by a vast network of computers and telecommunications lines. Gibson's
fantasy universe became a reality with the Internet which provides access to a worldwide
collection of information resources and services.
It is a window on the ever-expanding world of on-line information. The new communication
links afforded by rapid satellite/computer exchanges will enable the field etworking. The
Web is growing at an astounding rate and is changing the scientific world by making it
possible for anyone to transmit and receive information around the world.
In the fast-moving, global research environment, it is crucial that current information is
available to the scientist who needs it. The World Wide Web project was started in 1989 by
Tim Berners-Lee at the CERN high-energy physics laboratory. The goal of the project was to
find a way to share research and ideas with others employees and researchers scattered
around the world.
Like a puzzle, the Web connects several protocols, including:
- FTP - File Transfer Protocol.
- Telnet - Terminal log-in to a host.
- WAIS - Wide-Area Information Servers.
- Gopher - Tabulated information on hosts.
- Usenet - News.
- E-Mail - SMTP
- Hyper Text transfer Protocol - HTTP
Utilizing the tools available in Cyberspace, the Biomechanist can retrieve and display
data as well as documents from virtually anywhere on the planet. Studies can be conducted
at multiple locations and data rapidly exchanged among these sites. Thus, with the
Internet's hypermedia-based interface, documents can include color images, text, sounds,
and animation. As a hypermedia technology designed for searching and retrieving, Internet
provides a unified interface to the diverse protocols, data formats, and information
archives appropriate for biomechanical endeavors.
Furthermore, most of the documents are "hypertext" which is a paper containing
links to other texts, media, and/or locations. In other words, electronic links - known as
Hyperlinks - can provide specified information within a document by embedding full-color
images, sounds, graphs, bibliographies, supplementary resources, data bases, etc.
This interface allows information located around the world to be interconnected in an
environment that permits users to travel through the information super-highway merely by
clicking on "hyperlinks."
Similarly, complex biomechanical research segments at different research sites can be
"tethered" through these "hyperlink" phases.
Biomechanical analysis in Cyberspace can utilize the following functions:
- Independent video capturing in various sites around the world.
- Images sharing between sites.
- Multi-site digitizing.
- Analog data such as EMG, Force-plate, etc.
- Data processing such as transformation and filtering by various sites.
- Data analysis at various locations.
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