HN Explorer

Startup Suggestion – Posture Monitor

2 points by kingmanaz ↗ HN
For those looking for a startup idea, here's a suggestion: Create a device which reminds one to stand up straight.

Having recently traveled to Haiti, I found the posture of the Haitian women incredible; though living in extreme poverty, Haiti's women had the poise of ballerinas. The cause seemed to be the large water buckets women of all ages balanced on their heads as they walked up and down the local mountains. Much like the books aristocrats used to balance on their heads in finishing school, the lesson of balancing a load on one's head seems to ingrain good posture.

The question is, can a device, say something that clips in one's hair and which communicates with a device in one's belt, perform the same task? Could it subtly send notification if one's posture is slipping? Perhaps it could vibrate like a phone, etc. I'm sure others here will have better ideas.

I'd love to own such a device.

3 comments

[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 18.6 ms ] thread
PaulHoule
The right thing is probably an electromyograph that detects excess muscle activity in the neck.

Neck pain is something that is mostly caused by posture and the answer is not to stretch or strengthen the neck muscles at all (they are already working too hard, too stretched, etc.) They need to stop working.

kaolinite
You might want to look into this: http://www.lumobodytech.com/lumo-lift/

I haven't tried one myself, although I am tempted as I often get quite bad back pain (at age 23 :-/ ), however I can't quite bring myself to add yet another device to my life that needs looking after, charging, etc.

However, I wonder if you can solve this problem purely with software. Could an app detect slouching by monitoring the user through the webcam?

kingmanaz
Amazing. That seems to be almost exactly what I was thinking of. I would think that the sensor would need to be on one's head, though, particularly if one is trying to achieve the "poise" I was speaking of.

>I can't quite bring myself to add yet another device to my life that needs looking after, charging, etc.

I'm with you there, however, having scoliosis, it's nearly impossible to tell when the posture's going "adrift". The Lumo smartphone integration is a turnoff, but if the device is otherwise simple I might just pick one up.