Future of Health: Wearable Technology Improves Posture
Focused on addressing the posture concerns facing desk and office workers, wearable technology design ideas are emerging that make sitting straight a more natural task. One execution of this idea is the Posture Sensing Shirt, designed by manufacturer PostureTek. This garment contains an tension-sensitive device that monitors tension in the shirt’s interwoven micro-filaments; when this sensor detects a slouched position, a small vibration notifies the wearer.
A second manifestation of this concept comes from Lucy Dunne, a professor of wearable technology at the University of Minnesota. Her wearable Posture Monitoring Vest detects the curvature of the spine with fiber-optics integrated into the vest’s fabric. The vest transmits posture data to the user’s computer via Bluetooth, giving them a long-term picture of their habits.
[via Talk2MyShirt]
Over the next few weeks, PSFK is running a trends research and innovation project in association with UNICEF. We will be researching (with your help) the development of key trends that impact health and wellbeing and then using our findings to develop with partners concepts that UNICEF and likeminded organizations could consider deploying across the world.
Find out more here: PSFK presents the Future Of Health in association with UNICEF
Recent Articles By Kyle Studstill 
Kyle Studstill is a regular contributor to PSFK.com. Kyle works as a consultant working at the New York office of PSFK. His background is in analysis, from the analysis of cultural and technological change, to analysis of consumer and human insight, to military intelligence analysis with the US Intelligence and Security Command. Kyle loves the future, much like O'Brien from Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Daily Ideas & Inspiration Email