Walking posture

Recognize a person with a few points

Gunnar Johansson's experiments on biological movement have shown that a body in action can be recognized from a few points of light placed on its joints. The detailed silhouette disappears, but the coordination of the points is enough to reveal a walking person. This method opened a way to study what the movement itself transmits.

Appearance can also be seen in movement

Research on attractiveness has long favored photographed faces and bodies. The use of videos and motion capture made it possible to study another part of the physical presentation: the way of walking or dancing. A review published in 2015 brings together work on the social and physical information transmitted by these movements.

The male approach enters the laboratory

A study published in 2016 recorded the gait of men whose grip strength had been measured, then had walkers rated as stronger or weaker. Research subsequently carried out in several countries further explored the effects of force and speed. These experiments show the interest of the approach for the perception of the physical, with judgments which vary according to the observers.