Lunch & Learn with IHCD: Measuring Sex/Gender Bias in the Built Environment

Sarah Coppola is a human factors engineer and doctoral candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Northeastern Occupational Biomechanics and Ergonomics Laboratory. Her work examines bias in the built environment that causes inaccessibility and injury. She also teaches Human Factors in Design at Wentworth Institute of Technology and holds degrees in mechanical engineering and human factors engineering.

The observed sex/gender difference in technology-related injury risk is likely caused by a bias in the physical design of modern technology. In addition, falls remain one of the leading causes of injury with limited successful interventions to reduce injury risk. Falls are often attributed to an individual's faults rather than the ground conditions and hazards. Using applied sensors to directly measure human biomechanics will allow us to analyze risk factors in the built environment. This talk will present recent work that uses electromyographic and inertial sensors to examine mobile computers, tablets, and outdoor walking paths.