Background: There is increasing interest in the role that technology can play in improving the vitality of knowledge workers. A promising and widely adopted strategy to attain this goal is to reduce sedentary behavior (SB) and increase physical activity (PA). In this paper, we review the state-of-the-art SB and PA interventions using technology in the office environment. By scoping the existing landscape, we identified current gaps and underexplored possibilities. We discuss opportunities for future development and research on SB and PA interventions using technology. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in the Association for Computing Machinery digital library, the interdisciplinary library Scopus, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Xplore Digital Library to locate peer-reviewed scientific articles detailing SB and PA technology interventions in office environments between 2009 and 2019. Results: The initial search identified 1130 articles, of which 45 studies were included in the analysis. Our scoping review focused on the technologies supporting the interventions, which were coded using a grounded approach. Conclusion: Our findings showed that current SB and PA interventions using technology provide limited possibilities for physically active ways of working as opposed to the common strategy of prompting breaks. Interventions are also often offered as additional systems or services, rather than integrated into existing office infrastructures. With this work, we have mapped different types of interventions and provide an increased understanding of the opportunities for future multidisciplinary development and research of technologies to address sedentary behavior and physical activity in the office context.

No abstract

Modern office environments foster sitting, a major public health risk, with physical inactivity being the fourth cause of death worldwide.

In office environments, workers spend the majority of their workday sitting in a static position behind a desk or around a meeting table. Prolonged sitting time and sedentary behavior have severe negative health effects. Through this explorative study, we studied how different postures can be stimulated during meetings. We designed PositionPeak: three pieces of furniture aimed at composing a 'dynamic meeting room', subtly encouraging participants to avoid static postures. We video-recorded 5 meetings (N=16) and coded the number of position changes per participant. Participants also filled out a pre-and post-questionnaire about their experience. Our findings show that PositionPeak triggers people to adopt a variety of postures. Participants on average experienced a more efficient meeting but reported physical discomfort with some objects. We discuss the influence of PositionPeak on the meetings' social dynamics, the acceptance of new conventions and design recommendations for new meeting facilities.

Workplace health interventions have predominantly been designed around visualizations of physical activity data in the work routine. Yet, contextual factors, such as computer-based activity, appears to be crucial to support healthier behaviors at work. In this research, we explore the effect of visualizing computer-based activity to prompt physical activity at work, through desktop-based ambient displays. Based on our prototypes Yamin and Apphia, we conducted an exploratory qualitative user study in a lab setting with office workers (N=16). Results showed that visualizing one's computer-based activity could potentially increase the awareness, self-reflection, and social interactions for individuals to become physically active. With our findings, we discuss design implications for using computer activity data in a physical form as a motivational factor to encourage physically active workstyles. We present directions for future field studies to gain further insights on this topic. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Human computer interaction (HCI); HCI design and evaluation methods.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract