Analyzing Gait Adaptation with Hemiplegia Simulation Suits and Digital Twins

Abstract: To advance the development of assistive and rehabilitation robots, it is essential to conduct experiments early in the design cycle. However, testing early prototypes directly with users can pose safety risks. To address this, we explore the use of condition-specific simulation suits worn by healthy participants in controlled environments as a means to study gait changes associated with various impairments and support rapid prototyping. This paper presents a study analyzing the impact of a hemiplegia simulation suit on gait. We collected biomechanical data using a Vicon motion capture system and Delsys Trigno EMG and IMU sensors under four walking conditions: with and without a rollator, and with and without the simulation suit. The gait data was integrated into a digital twin model, enabling machine learning analyses to detect the use of the simulation suit and rollator, identify turning behavior, and evaluate how the suit affects gait over time. Our findings show that the simulation suit significantly alters movement and muscle activation patterns, prompting users to compensate with more abrupt motions. We also identify key features and sensor modalities that are most informative for accurately capturing gait dynamics and modeling human-rollator interaction within the digital twin framework.