- University of Florida launches the Center for Engineering Human Performance and Wellness, uniting engineering and health experts to advance how human movement, recovery and performance are measured and improved across the lifespan.
- The center leverages wearable sensors, robotics and advanced data analytics to transform continuous health and movement data into actionable insights for athletes, older adults and everyday users.
- Building on the rapid growth of wearable technology, UF researchers aim to convert real‑time data from devices embedded in clothing, footwear and headsets into smarter, personalized strategies for health, stability and performance.
From tracking how fast athletes sprint, how hard they train, and how quickly they recover, to helping older adults stay steady on their feet, University of Florida researchers are launching a new center aimed at transforming how we understand and improve human performance.
The UF Center for Engineering Human Performance and Wellness brings together experts from the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and the College of Health and Human Performance to study how wearable sensors, robotics and advanced data analysis can be used to monitor, understand and optimize how people move, recover and live.
“Wearable sensors and robotics are rapidly changing how we understand human movement, health and performance. Our goal is to position the university at the center of that transformation while preparing students and researchers to lead what comes next.”
– Daniel Ferris, Ph.D., the Robert W. Adenbaum professor of engineering innovation in UF’s J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering
The effort builds on the rapidly growing reality of wearable technology. One in three Americans uses a wearable device to track health and fitness, according to the National Institutes of Health. Today, wearable sensors are found not only on our wrists but also in our shoes, on our fingers, inside our clothing and even embedded in glasses and headsets — continuously collecting data about how our bodies function.