Trends and Trendsetters - Programming Performance
Have you heard about the four-way Ford, or eating ruffage, or perfecting performance by computers? People are talking about them.
By Unknown in Flight Time Continental Airlines on Thursday, July 1, 1976
Programming Performance: Biomechanical Analysis in Sports
In this article, Dr. Gideon Ariel, a former Olympian from Israel and a pioneer in the field of biomechanical analysis, predicts that America's Mac Wilkins, Terry Albritton, and Dwight Stones will win gold medals at the Montreal Olympics. Six months ago, Wilkins and Albritton were not considered serious contenders, but after simulating their performances on a specialized computer to perfect their timing, stride, delivery, and overall body motion, they are now favored to win the discus and shotput events. Dr. Ariel's work demonstrates the potential of using computers to perfect body motion in sports. He has also applied his research to everyday life, finding that most people walk incorrectly and most shoes cause lower back pain due to improper construction. He has even developed a new tennis ball that provides better control for players.
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Programming performance
'If they perform to their optimum potential," says Dr. Gideon Ariel, 'America's Mac Wilkins, Terry Albritton and Dwight Stones will win gold medals this month in Montreal.' Such a prediction would be considered little more than conjecture, if Dr. Ariel were not himself a former Olympian from Israel, and a pioneer in the rapidly developing field of biomechanical analysis. Six months ago, neither Wilkins nor Albritton were considered serious contenders. However, on the eve of the Montreal Olympics, they are favored to win the discus and shotput events, respectively.
Dr. Ariel's conclusions are the result of simulating the performance of these and other perspective Olympians on a specialized computer to determine what each of them could do if their timing, stride, delivery, and overall body motion were perfected. "The athletes corrected their performance flaws accordingly," says Dr. Ariel, 'and within a month, world records began to fall."
The possibilities for using computers to perfect body motion are endless, says Dr. Ariel. He has already found that most people walk incorrectly, that most shoes will cause lower back pain because they are not constructed with the human foot in mind. He has also determined, as others of us have often claimed, that the tennis ball is made all wrong. His variety (recently put on the market by Spalding) provides the player far better control because it rests on the racquet strings some 20 percent longer.