A Smart Armchair Will Take Care Of You

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A " Smart Armchair " Will Take Care Of You

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=54175

A surprisingly " attentive " armchair has been designed by Moscow

specialists. Its load-carrying structure looks absolutely hi-tech

and resembles in appearance a very " advanced " rocking-chair equipped

with an on-board computer and a lot of sensors, owing to which it is

exceptionally comfortable for work. This is due to the fact that by

attentively tracking the body position of a person sitting in it,

the armchair is able to independently fine-tune to it: to slightly

change the configuration so that the legs, for example, do not go

numb, to warm up or, on the contrary, to slightly cool the back and

the seat, to slightly change position of the arms of a chair so that

the hands on the keyboard do not get tired. Along with that, the

armchair maintains the optimal distance between the eyes and the

monitor screen, and it looks after the mouse so that it does

not " run away " and the keyboard does not slide aside.

Everyone is familiar with a situation when he/she has to spend a lot

of time sitting at the desk. If the lengthy work fully takes up the

individual's attention, some time later the person feels that all

the body " aches " as if from physical activity, and the legs

simply " go numb " . The explanation to that is rather simple: in a

static posture, the load falls on the same muscles and they are

overstrained. And the body weight falling on a relatively small area

below the back seems excessive within some time, even if both the

weight and the area are not big. The tissues in this area get

squeezed, blood supply deteriorates - and the brain sends urgent

signals: it is necessary to change the body position.

If we are asleep or are not too busy, this is not difficult - a

person would simply turn over or change the posture. But what if the

person is working? Then it goes either way: we either " listen " to

the requirement - and get inevitably distracted, and probably " lose

the idea " which can be precious, or we do not get distracted - and

thus spoil the health by ourselves.

All these observations, which seem to be lying on the surface, were

articulated as follows by one of the designers of the " smart

armchair " , orthopedic surgeon y Kosik: " Any static posture,

whatever comfortable it is initially, becomes tiresome within some

time. If the posture is not changed - it would become unbearable. "

The Gravitonus polyfunctional system - the ergonomic armchair -

developed by him and his colleagues allows to the solve the problem.

Special imbedded sensors are constantly measuring the local

temperature and pressure of parts of the body on the armchair

surface. By constantly analyzing this data the embedded on-board

computer ensures the feedback - it adapts the armchair to the user.

Perhaps, the person did not have time to think that the back, for

example, is tired or frozen - the computer has already counted with

the help of the sensors that the person needs to give relaxation to

tired muscles, and they should be slightly warmed up. As a result,

there is no need to get up, stretch oneself, go to fetch the rug or

a pullover - as if by magic wand the back of the armchair will

slightly change the position and get warmer. Of course, the monitor

slope angle and a distance to it would change to the right degree -

in extreme case, it will be possible to work even in a lying

position, which indeed better promotes not intense mental effort but

sleeping.

Certainly, for common users such an armchair is hardly urgent - it

will also be inevitably expensive and will require more space than a

usual one. For professionals who spend full time at the PC this is

yet an unachievable dream - the armchair has been patented, designed

but only two copies had been produced. The first copy is at home of

one of the developers - the authors are constantly improving it. And

the second copy is an excellent example of how important such a

construction may be. Not for everybody, but for persons with limited

physical abilities. For those, who are so to say chained to the

chair by a disease - but not to such a remarkable armchair but to a

wheelchair.

In this case, the " smart armchair " allows to solve several problems

at once. First, a person feels much more comfortable in such an

armchair, and the most serious patients will have no bedsores - by

the way, why not develop a similar bed equipped with sensors and a

computer for bed-patients? Secondly, by controlling various devices

via the computer both in the armchair and all over the house the

patient will be able to significantly extend his/her abilities. If

the patient operates the computer with the help of a special " mouse "

developed by the same authors, which is placed in the patient's

mouth, then it is possible to live a rather full life even without

arms, particularly if the Internet is available at home. This is the

way the patient lives, who possesses the second of the two existing

armchairs.