Head-Banned Bad Posture: A Sensor Embedded Headband that Adjusts the Posture during Screen Use

Overall Design

<aside> ❓ During the COVID-19 outbreak, prolonged screen time has induced various health problems including back pain, eye strain, and poor blood circulation. Therefore, our team focused on designing a wearable device to alert the user when their head is in a bad posture.

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<aside> 💡 In our design, the team decided to use two distance sensors as our input device, and a vibration device as our output device. One of the distance sensors points forwards toward the computer screen, and the other points upwards towards the ceiling. This is the best way to determine whether the user is slouching forwards or backwards.

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Team31_DP3_DeviceDesign.mp4

Raspberry Pi Housing Design

Some highlights of our Raspberry Pi Housing Design include:

  1. Moveable drawer to store the Raspberry Pi and the breadboard
  2. A lid that can be secured with rubber bands and buttons
  3. An OLED screen holder that can be seen from outside to show the battery usage
  4. A handle on the top of the housing to assist transportation
  5. Cushioning at the bottom
  6. Openings at the bottom of the drawer for ventilation

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Any Alternatives?

<aside> 🎆 During the brainstorming process, we have also considered using an orientation sensor to achieve the same purpose. However, to accurately determine the relative position of the head, an orientation sensor would require frequent calibration for the “standard posture”. In addition, an orientation sensor alone cannot help us determine the distance from the head to the screen, largely reducing the functions of our device.

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<aside> 🔊 The vibration motor was deemed to be the best output device as a user sitting at a computer may not be aware of any lights or visual alerts, as well the output is quite as less disruptive to the user

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<aside> 💨 However, looking back at the design process, I believe there are definitely rooms for improvements. For example, we can build a phone application that allows the user to customize the initial posture and the time period that the vibration motor is on. The design of the Raspberry Pi housing can be also simplified to save more printing material.

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<aside> 🥇 Ideally, a combination of distance and absolute orientation sensors can be used to design a device that is able to detect the position of the upper back as well as the position of the head relative to the upper back and to the screen. Only in this way can the posture of the entire upper body be fully detected.

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Our Team

Wanqi (Anna) Chen

Kavan Mehta

Bethany Lourenco

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*Cover image obtained from design project module