LegGuard
“I didn’t even realize I was sitting with my legs crossed again. How can I break the bad habit of crossing my legs?”
Team: Oulu Zhang, Ningbo Li, Chang Li
Background
Have you ever found yourself crossing your legs while studying without realizing it? Also feel stress in your back over time? Sitting with crossed legs is a common habit that can lead to poor posture and discomfort. Inspired by the design of piano pedals and the face punch machine, our product encourages a good posture by providing real-time notification. By prompting users to keep both feet on the pedals, it helps prevent prolonged leg crossing and promotes better posture through engaging and interactive features.
Inspirations
Piano pedals help keep your feet grounded, this product gently guides you to avoid crossing your legs and maintain better posture while sitting.
Sketches
We held a brainstorming session at the beginning to explore design opportunities. Below are the design sketches we created during the meeting.
Ideation Testing
We used a chipboard and a cup to create a quick prototype to observe the visual effect of having only one foot on the ground. We observed that if one feet stand on the paddle, the weight of the paddle will be imbalanced.
Iteration Process
From this iteration process, we learned that using button instead of pressure sensor is more stable and easier to detect the posture
Product Function
Modeling & Rendering
Final Prototypes
Video Link
Conclusion
We collaborated really well as a team, with everyone making their own efforts to bring the final prototype to life. Here is our group reflection after finishing the project.
Future Improvement
Use lighter material for the hand to ensure a gentler tap and less weight.
Next Step
Conduct usability tests to assess how well the product improves sitting posture.
Takeaway
Gained knowledge of foot pedal mechanisms and applied sensor expertise.