A method for calibrating the position and orientation of a 6-DOF sensor system mounted on a multi-segmented structure, such as the human body, is provided. The method includes a stage for mounting the sensors on the body, a stage for acquiring the 6-DOF kinematics from those sensors, a calibration stage whereby the prior stages are used to determining the sensor-to-segment transformations that are most physiologically optimal during relative skeletal motions, and a stage that to periodically monitor and correct for sensor slippage.