In this paper, a smart office chair with movable textile sensors to monitor sitting position during the workday is presented. The system consists of a presence textile capacitive sensor with different levels of activation with a signal conditioning device. The proposed system was integrated into an office chair to detect postures that could provoke musculoskeletal disorders or discomfort. The microcontroller measured the capacitance by means of a cycle count method and provided the position information in real time. The information could be analysed to set up warnings to prevent incorrect postures or the necessity to move. Five participants assumed a series of postures, and the results showed the workability of the proposed smart chair. The chair can be provided as a new tool for companies, hospitals, or other institutions to detect incorrect postures and monitor the postures of people with reduced mobility. This tool can optimise control procedures or prevent occupational risks.
During a pandemic, it is imperative that all staff members have up-to-date information on changing work practices in the healthcare environment. This article presents a way to implement work environment orientation amongst different groups in care facilities by utilizing mobile robots, radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, and data synthesis. We offer a scenario based on a co-design approach, in which a mobile robot works as an orientation guide for new employees, RFID tags are applied on objects around the premises and people’s clothing. The mobile robot takes advantage of the information provided by its known location and each RFID tag read by the RFID reader integrated with the robot. We introduce the scenario here, along with the details of its practical test implementation. Further, the challenges met in the test implementation are discussed as well as the future potential of its application. In conclusion, our study indicates that repetitive training and orientation-related duties can be successfully transferred to a mobile robot. Through RFID, the mobile robot can deliver the relevant information to the right people and thus contribute to patient and personnel safety and the resource efficiency of the orientation process.
Passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be embedded to objects and to the surrounding environment for identification and sensing. The potential of the technology can be further increased by designing new features, such as push-button functionalities, to the tags. In this study, the additional features were created in a unique way through 3D printing, as it enables the designing and manufacturing of versatile and individually tailored products. The first prototype was created around a commercial tactile pushbutton, while the second prototype was fully self-designed and based on thick two-sided tape and copper tape. These kinds of structures can be used to sense the state of the battery-free pushbutton wirelessly from a distance. Both prototype devices were found to be fully functional when tested with a hand-held RFID reader from a 1-meter distance by 4 people. Finally, care professionals were gathered to ideate versatile future use cases for the developed push-button prototypes as an assistive technology. New possibilities for using the buttons were identified especially for persons with limited cognitive and physical capabilities. The next steps are to first design special-purpose push-button objects based on these ideas and then 3D print prototypes of these objects.
Demographic changes can be observed all over the world. The number of seniors located in the societies of well-developed countries continues to rise. Both enterprises and governments need to be prepared for such changes. Consequently, public spaces need to evolve to reduce problems related to ageism and be friendly to all. Much attention is currently being paid to finding solutions for redesigning public spaces and adjusting them to the needs and requirements of senior citizens. To identify the preferences of seniors in relation to the characteristics of furniture in indoor public spaces, a survey study with 1539 respondents aged 60+ was conducted in Denmark, Finland, Latvia, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The gathered data were coded and implemented to the unified database. The statistical grouping method was used to recognize the characteristics of the needs and attitudes of seniors related to the use of public space furniture. The main variables taken into consideration in the analysis were the age and gender of respondents and their country of living. Among the most important findings are those indicating the necessity to provide the increased number of furniture for sitting in the public spaces and making sure they are not located too far away from each other. As the main disadvantages of public space furniture respondents indicated the lack of armrests or other solutions to facilitate getting up and/or sitting down, as well as profiled backrests that constitute solid support for the spine. The implementation of these data in the process of rethinking and redesigning public spaces may support the adaptation of indoor public furniture according to the requirements of a very large group of customers, namely, seniors.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.