• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2024

This research investigates the influence of chair tilt functionality on biometric signals and user comfort, addressing the ergonomic challenges posed by modern sedentary lifestyles. Through an experimental study involving eight male participants, the impact of chair tilt on electromyography (EMG), heart rate, metabolic rate, pressure distribution, and distance between the lumbar spine and the lumbar support part of the chair was measured across different seating postures. The study utilized chairs with both synchronous and non-synchronous tilt mechanisms to explore how adjustments in chair design affect user comfort and physiological responses during prolonged sitting. Key findings suggest that chair tilt functionality can significantly reduce muscle activity and energy expenditure, enhancing user comfort and potentially mitigating health risks associated with prolonged sedentary behavior. Notably, the study revealed a preference among participants for chairs that aligned the rotational center of the tilt with the hip joint, highlighting the importance of this ergonomic feature in enhancing user comfort. Additionally, the research proposes a novel methodology for assessing seating comfort through the analysis of both biometric and physical signals, providing valuable insights for the development of ergonomic chair designs focused on user health and comfort.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2014

Objective: The aim of this study is to develop an office chair enabling to keep working at reclined sitting posture. Background: Sedentary workers are supposed to change the posture frequently during long hours of sitting. A reclined sitting position has been recommended to reduce disc pressure. But slumped sitting posture caused by the buttock sliding forward without any adjustment of back reclining is commonly observed. The worker seems to have tendency to change the sitting posture maintaining working condition. We assumed the reason to be their hands movement away from the working space when tilting backward. Method: Slide mechanism allowing seat to move forward was designed to maintain the hand position in working space during reclining. A prototype was manufactured and tilting motion was analyzed using motion capture system. Four experiment chairs were tested including the manufactured prototype chair and three other commercial chairs. Results: A backward movements of the hand position were 13.0mm, 101.7mm, 156.1mm and 139.3mm at the prototype chair, compared to chair B, chair C and chair D, respectively. And the movement was remarkably small at the prototype chair. Conclusion: The developed seat sliding chair allows back tilting maintaining hand position at working space. We expect the user tilting back more often than normal tilting chair during seated work. But further investigation is required to figure out the effectiveness of the developed chair using prolonged working hours. Application: The developed office chair directly affects commercialization.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.267-279
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• 2014

Objective: The objective of this study was to define the Dynamic Sitting (DS) through trend analysis and research on the Dynamic Chair (DC) and applied technologies. Background: The effects of changing posture on the human body have been studied to find out healthy sitting postures. It is believed that changing posture is effective in reducing disc pressure on spinal cord and preventing back pain and musculoskeletal disease. But, the definition of DS and trends of DC have not been researched yet. Therefore, trend analysis of DC and its applied technologies are required to define dynamic sitting posture. Method: We researched the type of occupant postures from previous studies. And then, sitting behaviors were classified into three types; (1) sitting and standing, (2) working and studying, (3) taking a rest. Results: Variety shapes of DC and applied technologies were found out. From the result, the trend of DC and applied technology were summarized from three perspectives. ; (1) changing the chair functions according to user's intention, (2) conversion of dynamic chair technologies to office chair mechanism, (3) enables the user to change their sitting posture without operating control device. Conclusion: From this study, we defined dynamic sitting posture and analyzed the trend of DC and its applied technologies. This result might be used to develop an office chair for healthy sitting. But further investigation is required to figure out the technologies and functions for development of healthy chair. Application: The results of the publishing trend analysis might help to determine design concept of office chair.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.111-120
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• 2022

Objective: This study investigated the effect of pelvic tiltng according to the paralytic side on gait in stroke patients during a 10 m functional movement timed up and go (TUG) test. Method: In this study, gait parameters were measured using a gait analyzer for 20 stroke patients and their gait was analyzed during a 10 m TUG test. For statistical analysis, an independent sample t-test were performed for age, height, and weight among general characteristics of subjects and homogeneity was tested by performing a chi-square test for gender, paralysis side, period of onset, and K-MMSE score. In order to understand the relationship between each variable, Pearson correlation analysis was performed on the variables. Results: First, the right-hand paralyzed group showed correlations in cadence and gait velocity in the up and down tilt of the pelvis, and the left-hand paralyzed group showed correlations in cadence and step length in the anterior and posterior tilt of the pelvis. Second, the tilt of the pelvis was correlated with the Sit to stand, walk forward, walk backwards, turn around at the end point, sit on a chair and the total TUG time in the right hemiplegic group compared to the left hemiplegic group. Conclusion: In this study, a significant correlation was confirmed as a result of gait analysis of right-handed stroke patients divided into a right paraplegic group and a left paraplegic group. In the future, it is suggested that treatment for improving gait of stroke patients should be treated differently for the right and left paralyzed side.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.108-114
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• 2018

One of the most performed action in daily life is standing up from sitting position. As the population of the world is aging at the high rates, people may face problems with reduced muscle strength as well as psychological changes. This can lead elderly people having difficulties with standing up from chair. Now, with the aging trend worldwide, products are being developed that can support the lives of the elderly. This study examines the distribution of hip pressure in relation to the seating positions of the standing assistance seats under development to prevent standing up accidents in older adults. The currently developing standing assistant chair designed to tilt to a maximum angle of 25 degrees. At over $25^{\circ}$, design considers that older people are at risk of thrown back out of that force and that the forces exerted on their arms and legs can be a significant burden to older people. By considering danger of higher than $25^{\circ}$ for older people which is experimented in the basis of static capturing approach in previous papers, it is experimented people with age group of 20~60 on $0^{\circ}$ to $25^{\circ}$ tilting angle on the basis of dynamic capturing method in order to pick convenient angle of inclination. Moreover, tried to find the optimum angle by comparing the hip pressure distribution when seated at the edge of the seat and at the center of the seat with the pressure distribution sensor.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2010

In this study, the optimal position for the backrest pivot of an office chair was investigated by evaluating its performance in terms of the lumbar support and sliding distance of the back from the backrest during tilting motions. The simulation was performed using a mathematical model, which included a human body and a chair. Forty-two backrest pivot points were selected on the sagittal plane around the hip joint of a sitting model. A motion analysis study was also performed using a prototype of an office chair (A-type) with a backrest pivot located on the hip joint of a normal Korean model and a typical office chair (B-type) with its pivot located under the seat. The simulation results showed that both the lordosis angle and the slide distance of the back were minimized when the backrest pivot was positioned close to the hip joint. The experimental results showed that the slide distance and gap between the sitter's lumbar and the backrest was smaller with the A-type than the B-type. Based on the simulation and experimental results, it can be concluded that the backrest can support the sitter's lumbar area more effectively as the pivot position for reclining approaches closer to the hip joint. In this position, the sitter can maintain a comfortable and healthy sitting posture. This paper presents the methods and guidelines for designing an office chair with ergonomic considerations.

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.15-25
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• 2014

Objective: This study aims to analyze the factors that affect the ability to maintain dynamic sitting balance (DSB), biomechanical characteristics, and physical characteristics in spinal cord injuries (SCI) patients. Background: Virtual ski training systems, ski equipment, and training protocols for disabled skiers are being studied to spread awareness. However, few studies have been reported on the sitting balance ability associated with chair mono skiing. Method: A dynamic sitting balance border system was built to investigate the ability to maintain dynamic sitting balance in SCI patients. Trunk muscle activity was evaluated by electromyogram while conducting dynamic sitting balance tests. The trunk muscle strength was tested with a portable handheld dynamometer. Physical activity scores were measured with the physical activity recall assessment. Results: There were high levels of correlation between the ability to maintain DSB and trunk flexor strength, extensor strength, rotator strength, and physical activity score. However, height, weight, and injury level in SCI patients were not correlated with the ability to maintain DSB. Additionally, strong negative correlations were found between muscle activities of the external oblique and lumbar erector spinae muscles and the ability to perform the backward tilt test. Trunk extensor muscle activity during the ball lifting test was significantly higher than in other tests. Conclusion: The results indicate that improving trunk muscle strength and physical activity can increase the ability to maintain DSB. Application: The findings of a close relationship between trunk strength, physical activity, and the ability to maintain DSB need to be reflected in the chair mono ski training program.

• Journal of Digital Contents Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.1585-1592
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• 2018

Due to un-balancing weight allocation on the wheelchair the existing wheelchair system are faced with the risk of flipping or falling when a wheelchair goes up to a hill. In to order to be safer during riding the wheelchair, in this paper, we proposed a real-time new solution using the integrated Gyro Sensor and Tilt Sensor for controlling the balance. Because the typical property of wheelchair is for the special user who meets the difficulty in moving on foot the maintain the balance of wheel-chair systems have become important and helpful. In our method, we calculate the seat angle using information from Tilt Sensor. However, due to the law of inertia when a wheelchair is moving there is a deviation in the output value of Tilt Sensor. Therefore, we have to optimize the value of the angle by utilizing the acceleration that is the output of the Gyro Sensor. We took the advantages by using the combination of Gyro and Tilt sensors. Moreover, we also solved the consumption issue of the whole system. Through various experimentations with usage of ZigBee sensor module, the power consumption for the balancing system is reduced significantly.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.1581-1586
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• 2010

Haptic-aided design (HAD) involves the use of a haptic simulator in place of physical prototypes in the design and development of products with which human beings interact physically. The development time and cost can be significantly reduced by adopting this HAD scheme. Although both physical and emotional factors are equally important, only the emotional factors were taken into consideration in the previous HAD process. Consequently, the design of the products was sometimes unsatisfactory from the viewpoint of ergonomics, even though users were emotionally satisfied with the products. To overcome this problem, in this study, we propose a new human-oriented design methodology that is enhanced by taking the physical factors into consideration. The HAD scheme was verified by using a haptic chair simulator to design a tilt mechanism of an office chair for which the stiffness of the backrest can be adjusted; then, the design was simulated using MADYMO. The results show that the proposed method can reflect both the physical and emotional factors to modify the design in real-time.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.369-372
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• 2021

These days, people spend more time sitting at a desk for studies or work. Also, because people continue to use computers, smartphones, and tablet PCs often during break times, their posture is getting worse. Maintaining a position of bad posture for an extended period of time causes problems with the musculoskeletal system related to the neck, shoulders, and spine. Additionally, problems such as physical fatigue and posture deformation are predicted to expand to a wide range of age groups. Therefore, the core function of the system we are developing is to ensure correct sitting posture and to receive alert notifications via the created mobile application. To create the system, a flex sensor, pressure sensor, and tilt sensor are attached to a chair and utilized. The flex sensor detects and compares the amount of bending in the chair's posture and transmits this value to an Arduino Uno R3 board. Additionally, information such as body balance and incline angle are collected to determine whether or not the current sitting posture is correct. When the posture is incorrect, a notification is sent through the mobile application to indicate to the user and the monitoring app that their posture is not correct. The system proposed in this study is expected to be of great help in future posture-related research.