Wearable Experience Design
Can chronic pain be prevented?
This project explores various chronic pain conditions to uncover intervention opportunities that could help prevent the onset of lifestyle-induced chronic pain.
Timeline
2020
Role
Interaction Design, Prototyping
HeadsUp is a wearable designed to combat text neck by monitoring posture in an unobtrusive way, especially in work environments. It provides real-time audio alerts and voice-guided corrective sessions to help users build long-term behavioural habits for better posture. A companion app offers insights and health-related information to support awareness and prevention.
Why Chronic Pain?
To uncover pain points for both API producers and consumers, it was essential to gain a deep understanding of WebSocket technology. This involved studying official documentation, benchmarking existing tools to identify patterns, and building a DIY WebSocket server to simulate and observe real user behaviour.
What is Tech Neck?
Young adults often spend 7–9 hours a day in front of screens, leading to prolonged poor posture and excessive neck strain.
Tech Neck or Text Neck is a condition caused by repeatedly bending the neck forward to view or type on a device, accelerating degeneration of the lower cervical spine discs and causing long-term discomfort or injury.
How severe is Tech Neck?
Literature review and secondary research highlighted both the severity of Tech Neck and the widespread lack of awareness around it. Additionally, personal interviews with students and young professionals revealed a key insight: despite knowing the risks of poor posture, many struggle to build the behavioral habits needed to maintain healthy posture at work.
Precedents Study
Precedent study involved a comprehensive review of existing products and services addressing Tech Neck or related posture issues. This analysis focused on how these solutions are positioned within the socio-economic context and evaluated their effectiveness, accessibility, and limitations.
Key inferences and User journey
Solution
The solution uses smart glasses to unobtrusively monitor posture in work environments. Real-time audio alerts and voice-guided corrective sessions provide live feedback, helping users build lasting behavioural habits for healthy posture. A companion app offers on-demand insights and information about potential health risks.
Smart Glasses
Smart glasses equipped with a gyro-accelerometer sensor capture real-time motion and head position data. Integrated bone conduction speakers deliver discreet audio feedback through alerts, enabling posture correction without disrupting the user’s environment.
Augmented Audio
The motion of sitting upright was analyzed and translated into an earcon—a distinct alert tone used to notify users when they’ve been slouching for a prolonged period.
Additionally, users can opt for voice-guided strengthening exercises, during which the device provides real-time feedback on subtle posture adjustments to ensure effective practice.
Intelligent App
The companion app provides a comprehensive posture report and uses machine learning to predict potential long-term damage and health risks.
It also offers visual guidance for strengthening exercises and encourages users to maintain healthy posture habits.
Companion App Screens
