A tutorial on fractal analysis of human movements

This chapter presents an introduction to fractal analysis of human movement data. Our approach avoids heavy-handed mathematics and confusing jargon. Instead, we have presented the material in plain language and taken care to define terms unique to fractal theory and analyses. To that end, we have presented basic ideas related to fractal theory and translated those ideas to fractal characteristics typical of human movement variability. In addition, we presented an in-depth tutorial on one of the most common methods of fractal and multifractal analysis. Finally, we presented two complete examples demonstrating how to use these techniques in laboratory studies. We believe that our presentation will provide gait analysts and biomechanists with an easy way to implement fractal analysis into their research and practice.