# Ergonomic Design of a Workplace Using Virtual Reality and a Motion Capture Suit
###### Abstract
The assessment of the health status of working citizens is approached differently in each country, as stated in [8]. In the Czech Republic, for example, a total of 1282 occupational diseases were reported in 2018 among 1034 workers, of which 1222 were occupational diseases and 60 were non-occupational diseases. In the European Union, there were increases in two occupational diseases between 2013 and 2018: other enthesopathies (inflamed and painful joints; up 12%) and upper limb monoeuropathies (conditions affecting one peripheral nerve of the hand, e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome; up 13%) [9]. Physical factors are the most common reason for occupational diseases, leading to the most common occupational diseases--upper limb disorders, especially carpal tunnel syndrome [2,10]. Industrial companies need to think about the workplaces in which operators work; for this reason, the workplace should already be ergonomically designed in the pre-production phase. The main reason and motivation for addressing this topic from a practical point of view is the high cost of design and construction work, especially when developing and producing a prototype of a machine or equipment. The high cost of ra tionalisation can be reduced by using modern tools such as virtual reality, which can almost 1:1 visualise the necessary elements of a workplace. The use of VR and the MoCap system is also discussed in [11], which compares which types of MoCap systems in combination with VR and ergonomics have already been used. A virtual model can be worked with by displaying it on a computer monitor, for example. Modern disruptive technologies mean that such a model can be controlled using virtual reality tools. In the context of design and project solutions, virtual reality technologies can be used in several phases of the product life cycle. Particularly in the preparatory stages of projects, industry is trying to reduce the time and, therefore, the financial requirements in the stages of research, development, testing, and production of a technical object. Another costly part of a project is the prototyping phase, where virtual reality technology offers great opportunities for application, both in the prototyping phase and in the simulation and testing phase of the prototype [10]. In order to verify workplace ergonomics virtually, it is not enough to use virtual reality but to combine two technologies--VR and MoCap. In particular, the use of modern technology such as motion capture using a kinematic suit that captures the movements of individual parts of the human body seems appropriate [11]. Let us have a look at the current state of the data collection methods in ergonomic studies. Just a few studies [11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16; 17; 18] integrate these physiological measurements with biomechanical analysis tools. However, these approaches interfere with the work to some extent and require the subject to physically imitate the task prior to the analysis. Collecting the data for assessing the physical demands and ergonomic posture currently depends on this direct observation. Although direct physiological measurement (using goniometers, force sensors, accelerometers, electromyography, and optimal markers) offers a high level of accuracy and provides information that is more objective, it may be limited by experimental cost, environment, and technical and ethical issues for both non-invasive and invasive approaches [18; 19]. The risk assessment tools, including REBA, RULA, 3D Static Strength Prediction Program (3 DSSPP) [20], etc., require detailed physical data, such as joint angle, for complete human body motion analysis. These risk assessment tools have not been fully implemented in design cases because of the limitations with respect to physiological measurement. Joint angle and body posture can be obtained not only by direct measurement, but also by indirect measurement (e.g., Kinect range camera, computer vision-based approaches). Refs.