ergonomics
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HTC's Vive Deluxe Audio Strap makes its VR headset more comfortable
Compared with Playstation VR and the Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive virtual reality headset is a bit of a face-hugger. It offers a window into beautiful virtual realms and boasts room-scale motion-tracking but, well, it's just not very comfortable. Soon, that may change. HTC just announced it's creating a Vive Deluxe Audio Strap to replace the headset's elastic headgear. Not only does the new strap look a lot more ergonomic, but it tacks on one of the Oculus Rift's most convenient features: built-in headphones.
Rest for OS X: Adding coached exercises to productivity management
If you look around the OS X app store, you won't have much trouble finding any number of productivity management apps based on popular techniques like Pomodoro. We're big fans of these utilities here at TUAW. They transform your work into short manageable chunks, enabling you to return to work with renewed vigor and focus. What caught our eye with Rest (US$4.99) was its coached breaks. Rest doesn't just tell you when to take a mental pause, it helps coordinate a short physical refresher with the cognitive one. That's a really clever twist for a crowd that might be a bit tomato-weary. There currently just over a dozen different breaks in all, but that is plenty to for a normal workday. Perhaps the developer will offer more options in the future as app upgrades for greater variety over time. The breaks on offer are easy to do at your desktop and don't involve any special equipment. The app is easy to use. It sits in your menu bar and you can adjust how long each work period and rest period should be. The audio tones were pleasant. The exercises were easy to follow. If you like this category of apps, Rest will easily fit into your work style. An upcoming iOS companion app promises to offer break reminders when you step away from your desk.
Ergotron WorkFit-P Sit-Stand workstation: Get on your feet!
Ergotron has been making workstations for Apple machines for years, so it's no surprise that its latest products are perfect for the current line of Macs. Today I'll be providing information on the Ergotron WorkFit-P Sit-Stand workstation (US$299), an innovative idea to help knowledge workers get on their feet for at least part of the day while working instead of being glued to a desk chair. The evidence that sitting too much can be seriously bad for your health has been mounting for years. JustStand.org has some amazing numbers on the health hazards of sitting for prolonged periods every day -- a 2010 American Cancer Society study that was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology noted that women who sat more than six hours per day were 94 percent more likely to die during the study period than physically active counterparts who sat less for less than three hours each day. Martha Grogan, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, said that "For people who sit most of the day, their risk of heart attack is about the same as smoking". The idea behind the WorkFit-P is that you can spend part of your day slouched in your office chair staring at your MacBook, but then have the laptop raised to a comfortable height for standup work the rest of the day. Installing the WorkFit-P is quite easy, with two different methods available. First, if your desk has a pass-through hole for cables and whatnot, there's a special mount included for that. If it doesn't, then there's a strong metal piece with three screw-down clamps on it. I had some issues with the clamp method, primarily because my desk has a three-inch tall "lip" underneath the desk surface that kept me from using one of the clamps. However, just using two of the clamps, the WorkFit-P is still very stable and it's certainly not going anywhere. Ergotron includes all necessary hardware to install the stand, including several tools for tightening up the various screws and clamps. The surface of the WorkFit-P stand is a solid slab of aluminum that appears to be large enough to even hold one of the old 17-inch MacBook Pros. With a 13-inch MacBook Pro, the laptop had a good six-inches of space on either side when placed in the middle of the work surface. The aluminum surface is a perfect match to that of the MacBook Pro. So what holds up that aluminum slab? An impressively designed piece of hardware consisting of an adjustable arm. There's a cylindrical piece that sticks up from the desk mount about a foot. Attached to that is a rotating arm that can swivel a full 360° -- think of it as a very loose "shoulder". From that shoulder extends an arm that can be adjusted down to a desktop level or a high up as you find comfortable. The arm ends in a "wrist and hand" that holds up the slab, the "wrist" being able to swivel left or right as needed. Adjust the arm into a position and the entire assemblage stays put. Even putting a little bit more weight on the workstation surface -- say, a full coffee mug -- didn't move it. But if you need to adjust the surface or push it back down to a desktop level, just give it a good push and it moves accordingly. I did notice a slight amount of movement of the surface while typing, but it was very negligible and I got used to it right away. Now I usually do most of my work on a self-owned iMac (27-inch), but I have a corporately-owned MacBook Pro with Retina display that I use for work on our parent company's VPN. What I've started doing is sharing time between the two computers -- spending part of the time sitting at the "main" computer, but then trying to spend as much time as possible standing at the WorkFit-P to do writing. I'm finding that this is a very comfortable and surprisingly natural way to work. There's one side benefit of using the WorkFit-P and the MacBook Pro while standing. Sometimes while working on my iMac and find myself needing to look up slightly as the top of the 27-inch display is above my sight line. After a few hours of working at the iMac, I usually find that my neck and shoulders are killing me -- probably thanks to a pinched nerve I've had in my neck for about half of my life. When I'm standing at the WorkFit-P and typing on the MacBook Pro, my sight line is pointed down somewhat, taking pressure off of that nerve and lessening the pain. That in itself is enough of a motivation for me to spend at least part of the day standing and typing. While I was thinking about spending a lot of money on a high-end ergonomic chair, I think the WorkFit-P is a much more affordable and healthy alternative. Between helping to strengthen my legs and taking pressure off of my neck, standing part of the work day is already having some very positive effects on my well-being. Oh, and there's one other healthy benefit -- standing up while working burns more calories than sitting around. Desktop Mac owners shouldn't feel left out; Ergotron also makes a number of different WorkFit models that can hold multiple monitors or even -- in the case of the WorkFit-A -- an iMac. Conclusion Ergotron's WorkFit-P Sit-Stand workstation is an affordable and beautifully-designed piece of hardware for making your work life as comfortable and ergonomic as possible. Anyone who spends a good portion of his or her day working on a MacBook should consider the benefits of a standup/sitdown work surface like the WorkFit-P. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
TwelveSouth defies gravity with HiRise for iMac and Cinema Display
Pop quiz: What's holding up your iMac? As handsome as the metal foot design may be, many deskbound Mac mavens eventually find that the fixed-height screen position isn't quite high enough for comfortable ergonomics. In my experience, the same goes for the Cinema Display -- up until yesterday, my office setup included a dusty box set of big band standards deployed as a screen lifter to give me a boost. I've retired the CD box, though, since the Apple-exclusive accessory studio Twelve South sent over the cleverly designed, sleek HiRise adjustable stand for iMac and Cinema Display. This self-assembled unit includes an adjustable internal shelf, which you place at the height you like for supporting your computer's stand. Underneath the shelf (indeed, if you slot it low enough in the enclosure, atop the shelf as well) there's hideaway room for sundry items like keys, cash, USB drives and the like. If you're lucky enough to have both an iMac and a Thunderbolt display, there's a shelf position that will align the two devices' screens exactly. The HiRise includes Mac Pro-style front and back grating covers, which attach via magnets or tiny hex screws (Allen wrench thoughtfully included). The suggested assembly is to permanently attach the back panel, but to leave the front panel removably affixed with the magnets so that you can pull it off, retrieve your stuff and put it back. The enclosure works equally well with a Cinema Display / Mac mini combo, with room at the bottom for the entire computer if you want to stash it there -- in that setup, you can screw the front panel closed as well. Here's the thing, though, and no disrespect to the Twelve South product team (their PlugBug adapter is one of my favorite gadgets). The HiRise is sturdy and well-built, with a true "works with Mac" look in a premium, attractive package. It is also retailing for $79.99. If you find that you're $80 worth of concerned about how well-balanced and clean your desk looks... well, you know who you are, and you're probably already ordering a HiRise at this moment. For the rest of us, if you're considering spending 80 bucks on a display stand that doubles as a storage drawer, how about throwing in a few dollars more to buy yourself some actual storage? OWC's Mercury Pro drives have the same cheesegrater aesthetics, but also have handy USB or Firewire ports to connect you to 500+ GB of external drive capacity. In fact, the Newer Tech MiniStack ships for $89.99 in a bare kit configuration; throw in a spare SATA drive and tuck it under the iMac, problem solved. The HiRise is available now direct from Twelve South, with free ground shipping in the continental US.
The Elliptical Machine Office Desk: putting the 'commute' back in 'telecommuting'
Quite frankly, you've got it just a bit too easy. You rise 98 seconds before you're scheduled to clock in, you mash a power button, and suddenly, you're at work. PJs still caked to your legs, mouth still steaming from a lack of brushing. You're a telecommuter, and you're the envy of the working world. In fact, it'd be just stellar if you'd do us all a solid and add a sliver of complexity to your workday -- you know, like swapping out your OfficeMax special for an elliptical machine. And maybe, just maybe, you can convert your laptop into one that's pedal-powered, forcing you to keep churning for fear of dropping from the virtual office. And no, you can't ask for donations to cover the $8,000 price tag -- your fuel savings from last week alone should just about cover it. Harrumph.
x-Ar exoskeleton arm keeps repetitive tasks from doing you harm (video)
The spring-loaded technology behind the Steadicam has just found another use -- the x-Ar exoskeleton arm, which attaches to your wrists to reduce or eliminate the feeling of weight. Just unveiled at the Applied Ergonomics Conference in Florida this week, the mechanism mounts to a chair or other stable object and loosely cuffs your arms, allowing for a fairly extraordinary range of motion while bearing "the weight of your arm and small objects." (Sledgehammer-wielding workers will probably be better served by one of these.) While manufacturer Equipois suggests that the arm will likely see use in factories, assembly lines and the like where workers are subject to repetitive stress, we can also think of a few bloggers who wouldn't mind taking a little strain off their wrists. PR after the break.
Landscape or portrait? It's all about software ergonomics
When we think about computer ergonomics, we usually look at how our monitor is positioned (is it an appropriate distance from our eyes?), where our keyboard is laid out (in a keyboard tray or on our desktop?), and if our chair height lets us keep our knees at a 90 degree angle. In other words, computer ergonomics has always been about hardware (ours and our machine's). It's never been about the software. That's got to change. I find myself using my iPad primarily in landscape mode. I do so because in landscape mode you can see most apps' menu items all the time (like a complete list of emails in my inbox laid out next to the message I'm currently viewing in the iPad's Mail app). Seeing everything at once is handy, but the thing is, I find holding my iPad in portrait mode to be much more comfortable and convenient because I can see more text on the screen. Of course portrait mode has the drawback that many apps' menus are hidden from view and only accessible by an inconvenient drop down menu button that's almost always in the top left or right corner. Why inconvenient? What's the problem? The problem is ergonomics. The drop down menu button is in a very awkward place to reach when your hands and thumbs are holding the iPad near the middle of the device. Its location means that unless you have an incredibly long thumb (and if you do, send us a picture), you'll need to move your entire hand just to tap the portrait view drop down menu button. Wouldn't it be terrific if developers started utilizing a few pixels on the sides of the screen in portrait mode to let users access menus in an easier fashion? I think so, and one major app developer does as well.
Ask Engadget: best ergonomic Bluetooth keyboard?
We know you've got questions, and if you're brave enough to ask the world for answers, here's the outlet to do so. This week's Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Austin, who would love nothing more than to sidestep Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. If you're looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com. "I'm starting to feel the effects of years of typing on crummy keyboards, so I want to spare myself further hand and wrist pain. I like the Microsoft Natural keyboards, but I'm working with my iPad most of the time, so those aren't really an option. What (if any) is the best Bluetooth keyboard as far as ergonomics is concerned?" We personally adore Microsoft's Bluetooth Mobile Keyboard 6000, which is about as curved / ergonomic as Bluetooth keyboards seem to get these days. But if anyone in the crowd knows of a legitimately "split" keyboard with a BT radio in... well, give the world a shout in comments below!
iPads will be handed out to Japanese sumo wrestlers to facilitate 'swift communications'
The Japan Sumo Association isn't happy. No, not because of some trifling scandals and allegations of impropriety among its ranks, it's because sumo wrestlers and their managers aren't responding to fax and telephone communications. So what's a forward-looking sports body to do but turn to the latest craze in technology? Tablets. iPad tablets, to be precise, which will be distributed to the 51 wrestling clubs within the nation, in the hope of getting the sizable gentlemen to straighten their acts. One Japanese news agency speculates that the iPad's 10-inch dimensions would be just the digital panacea for people whose fingers are that little bit too large to operate mobile phones comfortably. And you thought there was no good reason for a jumbo iPod touch!
Microsoft Research reveals RearType, puts QWERTY back where it belongs
We've seen a few wacky split keyboards in our day, and even the occasional back-typing peripheral, but Microsoft Research has just congealed the core ideas into a why-didn't-I-think-of-that device for mobile use. Dubbed RearType, the QWERTY solution literally sticks a three-row keyboard on the back of a tablet PC, allowing users to have the same physical sensation as on laptop or desktop without taking up valuable touchscreen real estate. While there's still a few kinks to be worked out of the system (like how to set it down without triggering input) and no plans yet for commercial availability, a brief study showed users could attain 15WPM speeds on average with a single hour of training, and one participant managed to eke out a healthy 47WPM in the same timeframe. We imagine a certain Motorola device is feeling a mite jealous right about now. See the front of the (non-Microsoft) tablet right after the break, and read the full study at our more coverage link.
Case Study: Standing at your Mac to save your back
BusinessWeek is worried that Your Office Chair Is Killing You. "Short of sitting on a spike, you can't do much worse than a standard office chair," says Galen Cranz, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. This article caught my eye because just about a month ago, I bought this standing desk from Amazon.com. I had been in the market for one for a long time but had held off because they are usually ridiculously expensive. At the time, that desk cost me $96 ($86 + $10 shipping, all prices USD); it may have been a pricing error because that same desk today is selling for $277 + $7.50 shipping or you can buy a pack of two for $723 + $73 shipping! (Like I said, it's ridiculous.) Reading up on others around the web using various different desks, it is not unusual to see people spending over $1000 for a "standing desk," especially custom made. You can spend much, much more. I'm not trying to sell you on this particular desk, but to answer the question that everyone seems to ask me when they see it: "How well does it work? Aren't you tired of standing all of the time?" Read on for more...
MMFixed's Magic Mouse fix hands-on, literally
Apple haters, cherish the moment while you can. The Magic Mouse's odd ergonomics aren't exactly everyone's cup of tea -- including some of us at Engadget -- so we were more than a bit stoked when our silicone lump from MMFixed arrived in post today. Installation was straight-forward and mess-free thanks to the small suction pad underneath, and despite the fairly strong attachment, we were able to easily slide or rotate the soft cushion on the mouse for adjustments. We've had no problems with multitouch input thus far, and the old wristache-after-prolonged-usage seems to now be a thing of the past. So yeah -- it's safe to say that this squidgy fix was well worth the $10 investment (although it has gone up to $12 now, which is hardly the end of the world). You could say that it's rather silly to fix something that's supposedly magical, but we suppose even the best tricks could stand to be improved.%Gallery-90388%
Make your Magic Mouse oh-so-ergonomic with this pasty silicone grip
While it's hard to say if Apple's Magic Mouse really needs "fixing" -- it depends somewhat on your grip -- it's not a huge stretch to say that the slender multitouch device doesn't quite fit in the palm of one's hand. Sensing a market opportunity, Will of MMFixed.com recently decided to come to our collective rescue. For $10, he offers a simple silicone block that matches the mouse's contoured surface nicely, with an integrated suction cup that keeps it securely fastened. While it's not quite a one-size-fits-all solution, it's certainly a lot cheaper than buying one of the new whacky, adjustable mice we've seen recently; and if the idea of ergonomics via marshmallow doesn't appeal to you, you can always try the white bread variety. Video after the break.
Relax, the iPad isn't going to kill the iPhone
Regardless of what some people may worry about, the iPad is not going to kill the iPhone. Why's that? To keep the answer really, really simple, it's because the iPad does not fit in people's pockets. Can the answer get any simpler than that? I'm on record as not being a huge fan of the iPhone as a phone. Ergonomics aside, I'm deeply grateful to all those TUAW readers who pointed me to a bluetooth earpiece solution. Sure I look like a dork with that thing in my ear (not much difference, mind you, from my normal look) but with my 8-dollar unit (thank you Tuesday Morning clearance aisle), I can talk pretty comfortably for long periods of time without holding the iPhone to my cheek. When chatting, that iPhone normally stays either in my pocket or in the front holder in my stroller while in use. With the iPad, it would be pretty darn hard getting it to fit in either location. If I were to use the iPad as my main cell phone, it would have to be dragged along in a backpack no matter where I went. And, frankly, I like grabbing my keys, my wallet, and my phone and heading out the door without a backpack, a purse, or a man purse satchel. Let me give you another real life example of where the iPhone outshines the iPad. I love tracking my walks using TrailGuru. There's no way, I'd do the same with either a netbook or an iPad. It's just the wrong solution for that kind of need. They're simply too big. Fact.
Nothing was stirring, not even these mice
Wired's Gadget Lab points to this great Flickr gallery by raneko of Apple mice throughout the years, from the blocky one-button behemoths of years past up to the smooth and slick Mighty and Magic mice of today. Laid all in a row like that, it's interesting to see just how much care went into the look of these things, and how the different iterations, across years of work, built upon the basic idea. Wired says that Apple mice have never been its strong point, and they're pretty right about that -- even the current mouse, while beautiful and well-designed, doesn't have the functionality or ergonomic design that you'll find in most other brands of mice. But nevertheless, these still look great, and for the Apple fan, they'll probably bring back a flood of memories all the way back to the Macintosh. Great gallery.
EVERKI Camber is a netbook bag with a degree in ergonomics
The EVERKI Camber netbook case must have an inferiority complex. Why else, when every other netbook sleeve is designed to take up minimal space, does the Camber sport a large, bulging protrusion from one side? Well, you might say, it's designed to raise your netbook or ultraportable up to a more ergonomic 30 degree angle away from horizontality, but when was the last time you really regretted not owning a CushionSpeaker or a CushDesk? The more useful feature here, for us, is the space that bulge provides for storing your charger and AC plug (which can be horrifically huge in the UK), though whether the $49.99 price is justifiable, we leave up to you. Video demonstration awaits after the break.
Apple's glossy screens will 'mess you up,' University report warns
Attention, ergonomics buffs: an advisory recently published by Queensland University of Technology is predicting a rash of injuries as a result of users straining to get a clear look at Apple's "high gloss" screens, and the ergonomically unsound postures and positions that result. If you should find yourself in possession of one of these "torture displays" (as we think Apple should refer to them in their advertising from now on), Queensland Tech offers many suggestions for staying healthy, including: Placing the monitor so that screen is at a 90 degree angle to overhead lighting, closing the curtains or blinds to minimize glare, and adjusting the contrast / turning down the brightness. Of course, we're sure you've already tried all those things if you're one of the parties effected -- what, then is a strained MacBook user to do? We don't know, but maybe the Grippity guy will come up with something.[Via Apple Insider]
Dialing back display brightness is good for picture quality and your wallet
We've said it before, and we'll say it again -- once a TV has been moved from the store shelf into your shopping cart, the ultra-bright "torch mode" has served its only good purpose. Sadly, however, a study presented at the Ergonomics Symposium on Flat Panel Displays turned up more than 80-percent of the LCDs in the mode favored by alpine skiing fans, and almost 80-percent had the ambient light sensors disabled. That's bad news for picture quality, but also bad for energy consumption -- the study found that four factors (viewing angle, viewer age, content luminance and ambient lighting) can be used to determine an ergonomically correct display luminance, and we'd go out on a limb to say that the "dynamic" mode disregards what's "correct." Savings by dialing back the display can save energy by a not-too-shabby 20-30-percent. Statisticians can throw stones at the sample of 83 homes, but based on how many times we've found supernova whites and neon greens while visiting homes, it sounds about right.
Smartfish Pro:Motion Keyboard prevents carpal tunnel syndrome, bops 'round your desk
Take it from us, kids. Computer use -- with its carpal tunnel-wrecking input devices, spine-bending office chairs and eye-straining displays -- can wreak havoc on the body of even the healthiest young blogger. And even though there are a million products out there to help us work in a more ergonomically correct fashion, many of them seem just plain silly. If you're looking for something that actually looks like it belongs on a desk, however, be sure to check out the Smartfish Pro:Motion Keyboard. Pretty standard gear, except that it's outfitted with motors that subtly shift the keyboard's angle throughout the day -- ostensibly eliminating the cause of repetitive stress injuries. If this weren't enough, the device can track your typing speed and self-adjusts its angle and separation according to your needs. There have been no clinical trials for the device yet, but if you're desperate for relief -- or feeling daredevilish -- you're not gonna let that stop ya, right?[Via Everything USB]Read: Pro:Motion Peripherals [caution: PDF]
White bread wrist rest is non-organic yet ergonomic
Okay, let's say you're big into ergos. You've got your iPosture beeping at you like crazy whenever you slouch, ball-chair toning those core abdominals, and a split adjustable keyboard to make hunting and pecking that much more of an adventure. But what about maintaining the proper mousing angle? Put those fancy silicon pads away and reach for the riboflavin. We've seen a baguette-styled wrist rest before, but if that's a little too fancy for you, Brando has a another option: the plain white sliced bread. Sure, it's probably stuffed with GM wheat and has been bleached so thoroughly there's not a lick of nutrition left, but it might just delay the onset of carpal tunnel by a few years while whisking away any troublesome wrist perspiration. You're just six dollars a slice from this healthy mousing option -- $10 if you want enough to make a wrist sandwich.[Via Crave]
