Development of an Intelligent Office Chair by Combining Vibrotactile and Visual Feedbacks

Abstract

The intelligent office chair has become increasingly popular with the development of the Internet of Things (IoT), wireless communication technology, sensing technology, and intelligent control technology. A smart office chair can monitor sitting behavior and trigger an alert message to the user, aiming to correct his posture and improve the sitting behavior. Visual and vibrotactile feedback are two techniques widely adopted to provide feedback. Studies indicated that vibrotactile feedback is a more effective way to attract the user’s attention. However, vibrotactile feedback can’t instruct users to adjust their sitting behavior. Meanwhile, the visual feedback can be easily ignored but provides explicit instructions on adjusting sitting behavior. This paper proposed to develop an intelligent office chair prototype integrating ergonomic office chair, sensors, microcontroller, vibration actuators, and mobile App. This chair aims to provide both vibrotactile and visual feedback to monitor the user ’s posture and improve their sitting behavior.