The Human Performance Lab studies fundamental aspects of human movement and the strategies used by people to perform complex motor tasks. Essentially, we are interested in understanding how and why people move the way they do when performing different tasks. Our work contextualizes movement as a behaviour that can be influenced by many factors. This requires an approach that leverages information gathered using different quantitative and qualitative methodologies. We strive to apply rigour and good research practices in all projects and subscribe to the saying that “anything worth doing is worth doing right” (Hunter S. Thompson).

The lab is well-equipped, both in infrastructure and personnel, to collect and analyze data for research projects focused on human movement and manual therapies. Each study requires a unique setup that may combine kinematic, kinetic or electromyographic instrumentation. Kinematic data can be obtained using our 10-camera optoelectronic motion capture system. Kinetics are measured using a variety of force plates and load cells. The laboratory can simultaneously record surface electromyographic data from up to 16 muscles. Data collected in the laboratory is processed and analyzed using state-of-the-art software. Custom experimental equipment or prototype devices are either 3D printed onsite or manufactured in our workshop.