krithika swaminathan
Krithika Swaminathan is a postdoctoral scholar in Bioengineering at Stanford University. Her current research in the Stanford Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab aims to use musculoskeletal simulation tools to identify risk factors for ACL injury in female adolescent athletes. She received her PhD in Mechanical Engineering with the Harvard Biodesign Lab in 2024. As part of her dissertation work, she developed exosuit control strategies inspired by biological mechanisms and neuromotor learning principles for ankle assistance and rehabilitation, with a focus in people post-stroke. Prior to her Ph.D., she earned her B.S. at MIT in Mechanical Engineering, with a minor in Applied Mathematics, in 2017. She is also a Bharatanatyam dancer with over 20 years of experience in the classical art form.
abstract
Quantitative Dance Biomechanics to a Multi-Dimensional Sensory Experience
Research Talk
Bharatanatyam, and dance more broadly, artfully blends precise movements with fluid expressions to create an emotional experience for the dancer and audience. A key element of this experience is rhythmic footwork, the complexity of which is often lost without intentional focus by the viewer. In this work, we explore the use of wearable sensing to quantify the dancer’s foot kinematics (i.e., positions and velocities) and relay footwork patterns to the viewer through haptic feedback. Specifically, we ask how we can embody the dancer’s kinesthetic experience through haptic biomechanical feedback and discuss tools that we have developed to tackle this question.