Final Project Proposal: Biomechanics Ambient Awareness Device
futurecraft-design-proposal.pdf
Millions of people every year experience back and neck pain as a result of poor ergonomic working conditions. When you work on your laptop for an extended period of time many times you will end up sore and stiff afterwards. My proposal is to create a device which gently reminds you that it is time to be aware of your posture without interrupting your work.
Conditions to consider when developing the project were: the sensory interaction between the “machine” and the user, psychological affects of the device, wearability, portability, durability and style.
The human machine interaction was of primary importance. The goal of the project is to create a non-invasive reminder for the user to be conscious of his/her posture. My research has indicated that to be effective the reminder will need to occur every 20 minutes.
The differen approaches that have been considered are: a vibrating piece of jewelry (necklace, bracelet), a vibrating piece of clothing (shirt, jacket, dress), a widget that sends out a auditory or visual cue every 15 minutes, a vibrating widget that via bluetooth sends out a message for a passive embedded device to vibrate in either a chair pad or piece of clothing.
December 24th, 2007 at 6:10 am
brigitte nielson…
I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
January 6th, 2008 at 8:41 am
I am a PT from Turkey, i made some simple device to detect postural problems of human body and warn the wearer.
? woul like to learn what you have done with your project?
January 6th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Murat,
The device that was developed is a garment with that folds to both support the lumbar region of your spine and it sends out a vibration every 20 minutes via an embedded vibrating motor. So the sequence is as follows: user wears the garment, user sits down to do some computer work, user removes garment, user folds garment, user inserts garment behind back as lumbar support, every 20 minutes the vibrating motor notifies the user to be conscious of his/her posture through light vibration.
February 11th, 2008 at 5:05 am
ergonomic chair…
you forgot the ‘no guarantee’ rule, but hey….
February 17th, 2008 at 3:06 am
Jack…
I love this web stuff!…