Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Day 5: Active Chair

Sitting too long and being sedentary is supposed to be bad for your health.  Lets' change that by having our chairs move so that we are forced to reposition ourselves.  Key features:

  • Chair setup would require information about user's body, work surface height and any chronic pain.  The user could choose the amount of time between shifting chair positions and the degree of difficulty.  Degree of difficulty could be slowly increased over time.  Setup done via app that communicates with chair via bluetooth.
  • Chair would then restrict itself to a range of heights and positions.
  • Every 5 minutes or so the chair would adjust itself, forcing the user to shift and potentially engage some of their core muscles to balance
  • If the user needed a break, they could request one via the app.  Or turn it off during a phone call.
  • Track user sitting behavior.  Beep if user has been sitting too long.

Key problems

  • Chair would likely have to be plugged in given the amount of power required to shift a full-grown adult.  Cord could be a hassle.
  • Noise, if used in a cubical environment.
  • Cost.  Though people do spend a lot on fancy Hermann Miller chairs.

One Step Beyond

  • Add in message capability
  • Keep track of benefit to user via the app.  Estimate extra calories burned, other health benefits.

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