Human movement reconstruction through latent structural representations during assisted transitions and multidirectional hopping
Abstract: The quantification of three-dimensional human kinematics is fundamental to neurorehabilitation and musculoskeletal research, yet atypical posture, physical assistance, and rapid movement create conditions of partial observability. Here, we evaluate a latent-structure-informed framework combining convolutional rank-reduction autoencoding with feedforward regression to reconstruct movement from synchronized video. Three case-based demonstrations span therapist-assisted sit-to-stand in a child with cerebral palsy, unassisted sit-to-stand in a typically developing child, and multidirectional single-leg hopping in a young adult. Reconstruction was examined through positional trajectories, projected angular descriptors, and hip-knee coupling. Across test repetitions excluded from model training, mean absolute errors in a predicted marker position during assisted sit-to-stand ranged from 12.02 to 57.11 mm. Sagittal knee and trunk descriptor errors were 5.32° and 5.38° in the typically developing case. Hip-knee cyclograms captured aspects of coupled-motion patterns in both cases, with closer trajectory correspondence in the typically developing case. Sixteen test hops yielded a vertical knee-marker mean absolute error of 15.58 mm. These findings connect latent-structure-informed reconstruction with biomechanically interpretable movement features, providing a foundation for video-derived assessment spanning clinically atypical movement and high-dynamic athletic movement.