Acceptance of dynamic feedback to poor sitting habits by anthropomorphic objects

Abstract

The human body is designed for regular movement. Many humans, however, spend the bulk of their day sitting still instead. On average, for instance an adult spends approximately 10 hours each day sitting-in Asia, Europe as well as US. While a brief period of sitting here and there is natural, long periods of sitting day-in and day-out can seriously impact health and are associated with a significantly higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, and depression, as well as muscle and joint problems. Even working out vigorously may not compensate for long sitting sessions. The key is to build frequent movement variety into the day and to change the sitting position from time to time. About every 20--30 minutes the body needs a posture break by moving for a couple of minutes or, at least, by changing the sitting position. Most humans, even knowing about bad behavior and willing to change it, are not able to do so for many different reasons. In order to support behavior changes we have developed a system which is able to track sitting behavior and reflect this by anthropomorphic objects. By doing so we can provide a constant feedback of the sitting posture and give a reminder to sit right, to change the sitting posture from time to time or to stand up. A user study confirms that such a system is accepted and believed to lead to better posture awareness and sitting behavior by most users.