As a physiotherapist, coach and trainer, Bruce Craven’s prescriptions depend on repetition
– performing the right motions, in the right way, at the right speed until they become
second nature.
“It’s a person doing a skill with purpose, then receiving feedback to tell them whether
they are achieving that goal,” says Craven of Craven SPORT Services in Saskatoon. The company serves a wide range of clients, from Olympic athletes to
people wanting to enjoy pain-free gardening or be able to play with their kids.
Getting an exercise prescription right takes both practice and expert guidance. That
guidance can’t be available all the time, especially if the athlete or client lives
out of town. What was needed was a way to pack up a physiotherapist-coach-trainer
in a box to take home.
Craven brought up the idea with Dr. Susan Blum, associate vice-president of Applied
Research and Innovation at Sask Polytech.
“I had an open discussion with Susan about how something could be developed,” Craven
says.
In short order, he met with Sask Polytech applied research experts to get started,
mapping out the project, creating a framework and applying for a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
The idea is to build a virtual coach, capable of observing and analyzing motion and
providing instant feedback on what the person is doing right and what they need to
refine and improve.
“It’s a user-based kinematic system that will enable the client to get real-time feedback
on their prescribed exercises,” Craven says.
Such systems will be familiar to players of console-based video games, and indeed
Craven explains their solution is based on similar off-the-shelf technology. He envisions
the solution will be portable and used on a tablet, computer or television monitor.
The project is now in a pilot stage, and he expects to recruit athletes to develop
it further.
“The difference with Sask Polytech is they’re solving the problem, not just researching
the problem.”
“To be honest I don’t think it could have been done without Sask Polytech,” he says.
“They were the driving force behind it.”
For more information on Applied Research at Sask Polytech visit saskpolytech.ca/research.
Published September 2018.