A Simple Posture Sensor

ChairPosture

If you are on the computer for a large part of the day, posture becomes a serious issue that can negatively impact your health. [Wingman] saw this problem, and created a hack to help solve it. His simple posture sensor will monitor the position of your head relative to the chair, and reminds you to sit up straight.

The posture sensor is built around the HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensor, an Attiny85, and a piezo speaker. We’ve seen this distance sensor used in the past for a few projects. Rather than going down the wearable route, which has its own drawbacks, [Wingman] decided to attach his sensor on the back of his chair. The best part is that the sensor is not mounted directly on the chair, but rather on a piece of fabric allowing it to be easily moved when needed.

Given how low-cost and small the sensor is, the project can be easily expanded by adding multiple sensors in different locations. This would allow the angle of the back and possibly the neck to be determined, giving a more accurate indicator of poor posture. There are very few hacks out there that address bad posture. Do you have a project that helps address bad posture? Have you used video processing or a wearable device to monitor your posture? Let us know in the comments an don’t forget to send post links about them to our tips line.

18 thoughts on “A Simple Posture Sensor

  1. in my experience those ultrasonic sensors do make an audible high pitch squeak. I wouldn’t want it to continuously run behind my head.
    Instead of expanding with more of the same, I’d probably go the MS Kinect route. View from the side and use the depthmap to determine posture.

    1. The clicking is not very loud but noticable. While this would drive me crazy over time but my dad, wo I built his for, cannot hear it. An optical distance sensor would certainly fit better for the project.

    1. Interesting to see, but it doesnt say slouching is good for you, it says that sitting in a reclined chair is good for you. Most office chairs are incapable of reclining like that, and when you say slouch, it generally ends up meaning that someone has moved their butt forward on the cushion. This results in a curved spine, unlike the reclined position.

Leave a Reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.