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A new experimental seat was designed to investigate sitting biomechanics. Previous literature suggested links between sitting discomfort and shear force, however, research on this topic is limited. The evaluation of sitting discomfort derived from past research has been primarily associated with seat pressure distribution. The key innovative feature of the experimental seat is not only pressure distribution evaluation but shear forces as well. The seat pan of the experimental seat compromises of a matrix of 52 cylinders, each equipped with a tri-axial force sensor, enabling us to measure both normal and tangential forces. The position of each cylinder is also adjustable permitting a uniform pressure distribution underneath the soft tissue of the buttocks and thighs. Backrest, armrests, seat pan and flooring are highly adjustable and equipped with forces sensors to measure contact forces.

In addition to three main commercial human models (Ramsis, Jack, Safework), there exists also many non-commercial ones used in research laboratories. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to convert motion data from one model to another. This occurs in the case of the European research project REALMAN. In this project, three models (Ramsis, Jack and Man3D) are used by different partners. As they have different kinematic architectures, we have to write converters allowing collected motion data to be used by all three human models. In this paper, we present the method developed for converting the data from the Human Solution's Ramsis to Man3D, a noncommercial model developed at INRETS. We have shown that it is possible to convert motion data from one manikin to another using a method based on skeleton model comparison.