You know what sucks? Back and neck pain. People suffering through it will do just about anything to be free of its chronic, sinewy grasp. They’ll buy all kinds of weird pillows and shoes and anything else they can find. They’ll even spend their hard-earned money on the snake oil salesmen of the 21st century, chiropractors. In actuality, though, back pain is very often the result of years of bad posture. The answer? Developing good posture. This can be easier said than done, especially when incorrect spinal alignment is as natural to you as breathing. That’s where technology comes in.
A fantastic DIY designer named Ellen Sundh has offered up an elegant solution to the posture problem that plagues the West. Her Bad Posture belt uses a simple bend sensor to keep tabs on your spinal cord. The flexible plastic is arranged vertically in a fabric belt that also houses an Arduino, a Wave Shield from Adafruit and a push button for calibration.When you fall out of correct alignment the belt issues you a stern warning of “bad posture!” People like to be yelled at even less than they like sitting up correctly so our initial thoughts is this constant haranguing will work.
This is just a concept design for now so if you are one of the silent sufferers out there, you’ll have to continue suffering for now. However, if you happen to also be an engineer as well as a back pain recipient you can look at some of her schematics here. Also, bend slowly(and carefully) below to see a related video and some pictures.
