An IoT-enabled smart office chair for future comfort, health and productivity

Abstract

Today, a lot of tasks are becoming automated due to mass digitization, Internet of Things (IoT), and other emerging technologies. The common action of contemporary individuals is to sit in a chair and sedentary behavior is spreading around the globe. Despite numerous advantages of these technologies on one side, the other side can cause and speed up the increase of noncommunicable diseases especially for office employees due to prolonged and incorrect sitting postures which can lead to discomfort, health problems, and poor productivity. The concept of “An IoT-Enabled Smart Office Chair for future comfort, health, and productivity” is needed to know the basic and ideal sitting posture for office employees while they are at work. The objective of this research is to create an Internet of Things (IoT) enabled smart office chair for assisting employees' sitting positions to establish healthy, comfort, and productive postural habits. The proposed solution consists of a network of sensors, actuators, and connectivity capabilities that allow them to gather and share data. The chair's sensors can keep an eye on employees’ posture, shows employee’s sitting postures, alerts due to prolonged sitting, and then this information will be processed and analyzed by machine learning algorithm and display predictions of what employees are supposed to practice. The advantages of this smart office chair are numerous; they encourage optimal sitting positions to encourage ergonomic support, lowering the risk of musculoskeletal problems by continuously monitoring the employee's posture, giving real-time feedback and advice what an employee should do. This will present a viable way to build a workplace that is more cozy, healthy, effective, and connected with the potential to alter the way we work, and this will promote employee wellbeing and increase office productivity.