"Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for prolonged periods, even if you exercise regularly, could be bad for your health."(USA Today) People who sit for long periods throughout the day are more likely to be overweight, have a heart attack, get colon or breast cancer, or die prematurely - even with regular exercise. "After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals," (USA Today) and "genes regulating glucose and fat in the body start to shut down." (USA Today) On the positive side, research has shown that even a one minute standing break can help reduce the effects.
Situation: You are a professional who spends eight hours a day or more working at your desk with your computer. Even if you finish your work at the office, you go home and unwind by watching television while sitting or playing around on the Internet. You have an intense workload and need to be productive as possible, so you often forget to take breaks and tend to eat your lunch while you are working. You need a reminder or even an excuse to take you away from your desk and get the brief physical activity that you need.
Data: The device would collect information about the amount of time you have spent sitting in one place, how many times you have stood up from the chair, and how long those periods of standing or activity were.
Response:
1. The device could give a verbal notification that you need to get up and walk around
2. The environment could make it difficult or uncomfortable for you to continue sitting
3. The environment could make it difficult or impossible to continue your work
4. The device could give a buzzing or physical notification that you need to get up
5. The device could provide a bribe or reward for standing up and moving around
Objects Available: chair, desk, computer, desk lamp, mouse, keyboard, clock, physical objects on your person such as wallet, phone, watch, clothing etc.
Sensor: Force Sensitive Resistor from SparkFun Electronics: A force sensor that can measure a range of pressure from 100g to 10kg. Although not incredibly accurate, it does measure in a spectrum, rather than just "on" or "off."
Must...Stay...Awake
Situation: You were up late working on your project, and even though you somehow managed to haul yourself to your class, you are having an extremely difficult time staying awake. As soon as you thought you had managed the situation with a little coffee, the lights go down and you are about to experience an hour and a half of slides. All you want to do is fall asleep, but you just can't. You need to know this material and you are sitting in the front row...people are watching you. You need help.
Data: At rest the average heart rate is anywhere from 60-100. When a person falls asleep their heart rate drops down to about 52. The device could detect a change in heart rate, indicating that the user was about to fall asleep or had fallen asleep.
Response:
1. The device could shock you or surprise you
2. The device could constrict or apply pressure
3. The device could eject an invigorating scent that is designed to make you more awake such as jasmine, citrus, or peppermint, which all increase beta waves in the brain
4. The device could lower temperature till it was extremely cold, keeping you more alert
5. The device could create some sort of distraction or interaction (similar to doodling) that could
keep your senses more alert
Objects Available: notebook, lecture chair, phone, accessories, clothing, pencil/pen, laptop
Sensor: Pulse Sensor- Open Source Heart Rate Sensor: Using an almost radar or sonar type reflection system, the pulse sensor is able to read someone's heart rate with extreme accuracy.
Budget Buddy
There are currently many options for tracking your spending habits. One popular tool for this is mint.com, which allows you to set budgets and spending goals, receiving notifications when you have exceeded the amount you are supposed to spend. Other notifications of spending outside of your means are overdraft fees from banks, which can also be followed by late fees if you can't pay your bills on time. Although this information is helpful, wouldn't it be more helpful if you were notified before you bought that shirt you didn't need, or that extra coffee in the morning that somehow adds up?
Situation: You are not generating very much income right now, so you are fixed into a very tight budget. You know that you probably shouldn't spend more than $30 this month on going out to eat, but you also enjoy hanging out with your friends, and the internal pressure of being social often prevails the budget goals you have set for yourself. You might also have a weak spot for that cute pair of shoes you just walked by, that iced white mocha, that lipgloss, that new jacket that you need, oh and that nail polish that would look so great with your new shoes, and oh the absolutely necessary $25 wine glass holder necklace...
Data: The device could collect information through a service like mint.com, where it knows your budget as well as current spending habits. It could also detect your location through GPS. If younwere about to spend money in a location that would go under a category, such as "Coffee," where you were already over budget, it could catalog and do something with this information.
Response:
1. The device could physically lock, and prevent you from accessing your money
2. The device could give you a verbal warning, asking you if you really wanted the object
3. The device could display green, yellow, or red depending on how you were doing that month with that particular budget, allowing you to make the decision
4. The device could provide statistics or comparisons of what else you could get for that money, or how many you already have of that object at home
5. The device could provide a negative response that you would then associate with spending money unnecessarily
Objects Available: wallet, money clip, purse, phone, watch, any accessories that you carry on your person, house keys
Sensor: Flex Sensor 4.5 by SparkFun: When this flex sensor is bent, the resistance increases, making it possible to measure the change in an object that bends such as a wallet.
Situation & Response pdf
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