Halim Hicheur

About

Halim Hicheur is a leading researcher in the biomechanics and control of human locomotion, with a particular focus on the geometric and nonholonomic principles underlying walking and turning. His seminal work, including the highly cited 2008 paper "On the nonholonomic nature of human locomotion" (104 citations) and its 2006 companion study (75 citations), introduced a differential system that accurately models the geometry of goal-directed walking paths on level ground. This framework reveals a fundamental constraint: like a car, humans cannot move sideways, making locomotion nonholonomic. Hicheur also made key contributions to understanding the coordination of head and body movements during steering, as detailed in his 2006 paper "How do humans turn?" (24 citations), which addresses the postural challenges of curved paths. Expanding into affective computing, his 2013 work on "Perception of Emotional Gaits" (16 citations) demonstrated that emotional states can be reliably conveyed through synthesized walking patterns using a limited set of kinematic cues. With over 220 total citations, Hicheur’s interdisciplinary approach bridges robotics, neuroscience, and psychology, offering profound insights into the control strategies that enable natural, efficient human movement.

Research Focus

Key Achievements

Top Papers

1. 1
   On the nonholonomic nature of human locomotion

   104 citations · 2008
2. 2
   The nonholonomic nature of human locomotion: a modeling study

   75 citations · 2006
3. 3
   How do humans turn? head and body movements for the steering of locomotion

   24 citations · 2006
4. 4
   Perception of Emotional Gaits Using Avatar Animation of Real and Artificially Synthesized Gaits

   16 citations · 2013
5. 5
   How do humans turn? Head and body movements for the steering of locomotion Halim Hicheur and Alain Berthoz

   2 citations · 2005

Key Collaborators

Contact & Links