abe the good dwarf

I’ve got a problem…..along with many other bipedal humans, biomechanics.

As a result of a host of injuries from sports and the fact that I am not the “average” size human I’ve developed issues with my back, knees, neck, etc…

While considering what I should do for this project I immediately began thinking about some kind of prosthetic device that could potentially alleviate some of the
pains that I deal with every day as a result of using my laptop too much, sitting at a desk that has been raised but now is too high and a list of other issues.

So I began to research prosthetics and ergonomics, this led me to an idea about a portable ergonomics kit. This kit would allow me to easily transport all the necessary devices
to allow for my comfort whether I was in class, in my studio or at home.

Items that come to mind that I would like to have in this sort of pack are my lumbar support back pillow, a seat raiser (for my studio), a foot rest, something to raise my work surface, etc.

All of these items would have to be extremely compressible to allow for maximum portability….so the idea was about a teeny-tiny ergonomics pack.

That lead me to the idea of a suit that would monitor my body mechanics.

This suit would be easily worn under your clothes and would allow you to monitor your body position. The device would send feedback to your laptop and would plug in via a USB port kind of like all of your other peripherals.

Originally I was thinking of this suit as a bodysuit, kind of like a wetsuit, but breathable. Maybe something that could be connect via Bluetooth rather than through a USB.

The way in which the data would be presented would be a small 3d model of you and hot spots that would alert you to high strain/stress areas of your current position. This would allow you to monitor your position while working at your laptop in a non-intrusive manner. The 3D representation would be like a Widget or the Weatherbug.

So this device would provide constant feedback as to your body mechanics. More importantly it would promote body awareness that would easily allow for you to monitor performance, saving a history for later discussion with a physical therapist or doctor.

After doing some research I learned that there are currently suits that monitor body mechanics for old people and severly injured hospital patients. But there is not a device that would allow for the active monitoring that is portable and easy to interact. These suits require a doctor to interpret results. Here are some links to sites that have developed some technology that I just mentioned.

BioMechanics Research Lab

and

MiniSun Health Monitor

Other potential applications would be for athletes while playing sports, running, swimming, biking etc. and for body language monitoring, think sales people, executives, etc.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 7:21 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.