FI129320B

FI129320B - Helping a user to improve posture when using a mobile device

Info

Publication number: FI129320B
Application number: FI20205793A
Authority: FI
Inventors: Abadha Kamula
Original assignee: Halimo Oy
Priority date: 2020-08-12
Filing date: 2020-08-12
Publication date: 2021-11-30
Also published as: FI20205793A1; WO2022034265A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a method comprising detecting a position of a mobile device, determining, based on the positions, if a user (110)is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set for the position of the device, if the position is within the pre-determined limits, determining that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre-determined limits, determining that the user (110)is not in an ergonomic position and providing an indication that the position is not correct.

Description

HELPING A USER TO IMPROVE POSTURE WHEN USING A MOBILE DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD The present application relates to guiding a user to a posture that is ergonomic when using a mobile device.

BACKGROUND When using a mobile device, it is easy to have a posture that is not ergonomically optimal. While that may be ok for some time, over time the user may begin to develop symptoms such as pain, soar muscles and tension in muscles. Such symptoms could be relieved with an ergonomically better posture. Yet, it may be easy for a user to forget to observe his posture and therefore having a device to help the user toabetter posture is beneficial. It would also allow the user to use the device for longer without unwanted symptoms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION According to an aspect there is provided a method comprising detecting a position of a mobile device, determining, based on the position, if a user is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set for the position of the device, if the position is within the pre-determined limits, determining — that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre- O determined limits, determining that the user is not in an ergonomic position and = providing an indication that the position is not correct. 2 E 25 According to an aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for detecting e a position of a mobile device, determining, based on the positions, if a user is in an 5 ergonomic position by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set O for the position of the device, if the position is within the pre-determined limits, determining that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre-determined limits, determining that the user is not in an ergonomic position and providing an indication that the position is not correct. According to another aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to detect a position of a mobile device, determine, based on the position, if a user is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set for the position of the device, if the — position is within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is not in an ergonomic position and provide an indication that the position is not correct. — According to another aspect there is provided a computer program product which when executed by a computing apparatus causes the apparatus to detect a position of a mobile device, determine, based on the position, if a user is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set for the position of the device, if the position is within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is not in an ergonomic position and provide an indication that the position is not correct.

S = 25 According to an aspect there is provided a computer program product comprising 2 computer program code stored in a non-transitory memory medium, the computer E program code being configured to cause an apparatus, when executing the program e code by a processor circuitry, to perform at least the following: detect a position of a 5 mobile device, determine, based on the position, if a user is in an ergonomic position O 30 by determining if the position is within pre-determined limits set for the position of the device, if the position is within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is in an ergonomic position, if the position is not within the pre-determined limits, determine that the user is not in an ergonomic position and provide an indication that the position is not correct.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figures 1a and 1b illustrates positions of a user when using a mobile device. Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart according to an exemplary embodiment. Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following embodiments are exemplifying. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments. A mobile device such as a mobile phone or a tablet is used by many people regularly each day. Some people may spend hours using their mobile device every day. Office — workers have long been aware of the importance of good ergonomics when spending

N S hours sitting on a computer. Less is known regarding the importance of having proper = ergonomics when using a mobile device. 2 25 = In Figure 1a, a person, who is in the context of this documents called as a user 110, is a ™ using his mobile phone 120. This posture allows the user to have his head up such that

O 5 the neck is straight. This position has good ergonomics. In Figure 1b the posture is not O good and the user's neck is tilted forwards. This means that the user's head 130 is not in straight line with his back and neck. While this posture may be durable for some time, over time it may begin to cause problems in the user’s health thereby making the usage of the mobile phone 120 also trickier than it should be. If the head of a user is tilted forward, the weight of the head, which the user experiences due to the change in the strain caused by the head, begins to increase. Below is a table, table 1, that illustrates how the weight of the head is increased as the neck is tilted forwards. Table 1 As can be seen from table 1, the increase in the weight caused by forward tilting of the head is significant. Therefore, the longer the head is tilted forward due to the usage of a mobile device, the more it strains cervical spine. As the head is tilted and the posture of the neck changes, the posture of the user changes to an unergonomic posture straining the upper body, back and thoracic spine. The muscles of the user are then easily moved to an unbalanced state in which some muscles are stretched while other = muscles are shortened become stiff. The younger the user, the better the user may N tolerate the unergonomic posture. However, as the person gets older, the less the body = tolerates the unergonomic posture when using a mobile device. For example, if a 3 20 person is over 40 years old, ligaments are usually loser compared to when the person E was younger and the support the ligaments can provide to the neck has diminished, 2 which increases the probability of the muscles to stay in a wrong position. Thus, the 2 importance of good posture is increased.

N A good posture is such that the neck is not tilted forward but is in an upright position and the display of the mobile device is in front the user's eyes. To keep the good posture, it may help to change the hand that holds the mobile device. Also, if the user is lying, that may help to alleviate the strain tilting the head may cause. However, even if the user is aware of the good posture, it is easy to forget it. Therefore having the 5 device itself to guide the user may be beneficial. A mobile device may have various sensors. For example, a mobile device may have a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, an accelerometer and a gyroscope. An accelerometer is able to detect acceleration, vibration, and tilt to determine movement of the mobile device and its exact orientation along the three axes. An accelerometer may be utilized for example to determine whether mobile device is in portrait or landscape orientation and if the display of the mobile device is facing upward or downward. The accelerometer may also detect how fast the mobile device is moving in any linear direction. A gyroscope may also detect orientation and direction such as up or down and left or right and also rotation of the mobile device. In other words, a gyroscope may be utilized to determine if a mobile device has been rotated and in which direction. A proximity sensor may use an infrared LED and IR light detector to determine how close the phone is to an outside object. For example when a mobile device is held close to, or in contact with, the user's head to make or receive a call, the proximity sensor detects it and disables the touchscreen display to avoid unintended input through the skin of the user. The ambient light sensor may detect the lighting levels of the surrounding environment and that input may be used to adjust the - brightness of the display of the mobile device accordingly.

S = 25 —Asthe mobile device, such as a mobile phone may detect the position of the device, it 2 may also determine if the user's head is tilted or not and if it is tilted, it may also E determine the angle of the tilting. Further, a front facing camera of the mobile device e may be utilized to detect the user and verify, using image recognition algorithm, the 5 posture of the user. Therefore, the mobile device may be used to detect if the user's O 30 position is correct and if it is not, then it may be indicated to the user. This may be done for example by a software application.

Figure 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the posture of the user is detected using sensors comprised in the mobile phone. This may be achieved using an application for example. First, in S1, the position of the device is detected. This detection may be performed if the phone is actively being used and if it is detected that the phone is not being held next to the user's head in a phone call. The position may be detected for example in terms of orientation tilting of the mobile phone. Next, in S2, it is determined if it is likely that the user’s head is not in an upright — position. This may be done using the sensors and, additionally, the front facing camera. There may be pre-determined limits regarding the position of the device that, when exceeded, indicate that it is likely that the user’s head is not in an optimal position. Further, in some exemplary embodiments, there may be various limits that indicate how severely the user’s head is in an unergonomic position. The limits may be determined for example based on the angle in which the head is tilted. If it is detected that the position of the device is within the pre-determined limits, then detecting the position of the mobile device in S1 is resumed.

If it is determined that the position is not within the pre-determined limits, then optionally in S3 it may be determined for how long the unergonomic position has lasted. There may be a threshold time for the unergonomic positions. The threshold time may depend on variables such as the user's age and/or the angle to which the — user's head is tilted forward. The maximum tilting for example may be tolerated for O less time than a slight tilting. Also, a younger person may tolerate tilting of the head for = 25 longer than an older person. The threshold time may also be set by the user. If the 2 position that is not within the pre-determined limits has not lasted for longer than the E threshold time limit, then detecting the position of the mobile device in S1 is resumed. ™ On the other hand, if the position that is not within the pre-determined limits has lasted 3 for longer than the threshold time limit, then in S4 an indication may be provided to O 30 the user that the position is not correct. This may be done for example by providing a vibration sensation, dimming the brightness of the display, providing a sound indication and/or displaying an indication on the display. Further, if there is a peripheral device such as a smart watch connected, then, additionally or alternatively, the peripheral device may also be utilized to provide the indication that the posture is not correct. The indication may be provided for example in a user defined manner. Additionally, the indication may be dependent on the angle of tilting of the head. For example, if there is slight tilt, an indication may be displayed but if the tilting is heavier, then a vibration and dimming of the brightness of the display for example may be performed at the same time.

Optionally, in S5, guidance may be provided to the user how to be in a more ergonomic posture. For example, it may be indicated to which posture the head should be placed and then, by using the sensors of the device and/or the front facing camera, it may be verified when the user’s posture is ergonomically correct. Once the ergonomically correct position has been achieved, and indication may be provided to the user that — posture is now ergonomically correct. The indication may be provided by any suitable means. For example, a vibration may be provided, a sound output and/or visual indication may be displayed.

Figure 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an apparatus that may be, or may be comprised in a mobile device. The processor 310 is coupled to a memory 320. The processor is configured to read and write data to and from the memory 320. The memory 320 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be — volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that in some example embodiments there may O be one or more units of non-volatile memory and one or more units of volatile memory = 25 — or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or 2 more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example RAM, DRAM or E SDRAM. Non-volatile memory may be for example ROM, PROM, EEPROM, flash 0 memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to 3 as non-transitory computer readable media. The memory 320 further stores computer S 30 readable instructions that are execute by the processor 310. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer readable instructions and the processor 310 executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and/or instructions.

The memory may also save data such as values.

The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the memory 320 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via electromagnetic carrier signal and/or may be copied from a physical entity such as computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions causes the apparatus 300 to perform functionality described above.

In the context of this document, a memory or computer-readable media may be any non-transitory media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

— The apparatus 300 further comprises, or is connected to, an input unit 530. The input unit 330 comprises one or more interfaces for receiving a user input. The one or more interfaces may comprise for example one or more motion and/or orientation sensors, such as an accelerometer or gyroscope, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and one or more touch detection units. Further, the input unit 330 may comprise an interface to which external devices may connect to.

- The apparatus 300 also comprises an output unit 340. The output unit may comprise O for example one or more displays capable of rendering visual content such as a light = 25 emitting diode, LED, display or a liquid crystal display, LCD. The output unit 340 may 2 further comprise one or more audio outputs such as loudspeakers or a set of E headphones.

o 5 The apparatus 300 may further comprise a connectivity unit 350. The connectivity unit O 30 350 enables wired and/or wireless connectivity to external networks such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. The connectivity unit 350 may comprise one or more antennas and one or more receivers that may be integrated to the apparatus 300 or the apparatus 300 may be connected to. The connectivity unit 350 may comprise an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provide the wireless communication capability for the apparatus 300. Alternatively, the wireless connectivity may be a hardwired application specific integrated circuit, ASIC. It is to be noted that the apparatus 300 may further comprise various component not illustrated in the Figure 3. The various components may be hardware component and/or software components.

Even though the invention has been described above with reference to exemplary embodiments according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described exemplary embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other exemplary embodiments in various ways. The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the invention is set out by the independent claims. If any exemplary embodiments and features described in this specification should not fall under the scope of the independent claims, those are to be interpreted as examples — useful for understanding various embodiments of the invention.

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Claims

1. A method comprising: detecting a position of a mobile device; determining, based on the position, if a user (110) is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within predetermined limits set for the position of the mobile device; if the position is within the predetermined limits, determining that the user (110) is in an ergonomic position, characterized in that; if the position is not within the predetermined limits, determining that the user (110) is not in an ergonomic position, determining a duration for how long the position has been outside the predetermined limits and providing the indication if the duration is longer than a predetermined time-period, wherein the predetermined time-period is dependent on the user's age, and providing an indication that the position is not correct.

2.A method according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined time-period is less for a maximum tilt of the user's head (130) than for a tilt of the user's head (130) that is less than the maximum tilt.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined time-period is longer for a younger person than for an older person.

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4. A method according to any previous claim, wherein there are a plurality of 5, 25 predetermined limits that correspond to the degree of forward tilting of the user's z head (130). a

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5. A method according to any previous claim, wherein the indication comprises N dimming the display.

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6. An apparatus (300) comprising means for: detecting a position of a mobile device; determining, based on the position, if a user (110) is in an ergonomic position by determining if the position is within predetermined limits set for the position of the mobile device; if the position is within the predetermined limits, determining that the user (110) is in an ergonomic position, characterized in that; if the position is not within the predetermined limits, determining that the user (110) is not in an ergonomic position, determining a duration for how long the — position has been outside the predetermined limits and providing the indication if the duration is longer than a predetermined time-period, wherein the predetermined time-period is dependent on the user's age, and providing an indication that the position is not correct.

7. An apparatus (300) according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined time-period is less for a maximum tilt of the user's head (130) than for a tilt of the user's head (130) that is less than the maximum tilt.

8. An apparatus (300) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the predetermined time- period is longer for a younger person than for an older person. — 9. An apparatus (300) according to any of claims 6 to 8, wherein there are a plurality O of predetermined limits that correspond to the degree of forward tilting of the user's = 25 head (130). 2 E 10. An apparatus (300) according to any of claims 6 to 9, wherein the indication e comprises dimming the display.

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S O 30 11. A computer program product which when executed by a computing apparatus causes the apparatus to:

detect a position of a mobile device; determine, based on the position, if a user (110) is in an ergonomic position by determine if the position is within predetermined limits set for the position of the mobile device; if the position is within the predetermined limits, determine that the user (110) is in an ergonomic position, characterized in that; if the position is not within the predetermined limits, determine that the user (110) is not in an ergonomic position, determining a duration for how long the position has been outside the predetermined limits and providing the indication if the — duration is longer than a predetermined time-period, wherein the predetermined time-period is dependent on the user's age, and providing an indication that the position is not correct.

12. A computer program product according to claim 11, wherein the predetermined time-period is less for a maximum tilt of the user's head (130) than for a tilt of the user's head (130) that is less than the maximum tilt.

13. A computer program product according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the predetermined time-period is longer for a younger person than for an older person.

14. A computer program product according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein there are a plurality of predetermined limits that correspond to the degree of forward tilting — of the user's head (130).

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15. A computer program product according to any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the 2 indication comprises dimming the display.

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