Breaking Bones: Animating the Biomechanics of Sport Injury

This paper describes how a rig was constructed to demonstrate to students on a sports injury module the forces involved in breaking bones. This enabled the students to meet a learning outcome related to the identification of the pathophysiological processes of acute damage in relation to specific sites and sports injury. The rig was built from angle iron, which was attached to a force plate and associated software, into which could be viced pig and turkey bones. Reflection on the demonstration raised a number of issues including the limitations of virtual reality and do we want technicians or animators?