Office work often results in long bouts of time spent sitting without moving, accumulating prolonged static posture (PSP), which might cause musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD). Although sit-stand desks (SSD) allow posture changes, employees do not use them sustainably. In order to automate posture adjustments, an intelligent SSD with an interactive system (iSSD) was created. This study assessed the impact of the iSSD on postural hygiene and explored the user experience. Ten office employees working remotely from home (teleworkers) used the iSSD with (phase B) and without (phase A2) automation. The usage data of the iSSD was measured daily by sensors. We assessed MSDs and working conditions through questionnaires. Semi-structured interviews evaluated participants’ satisfaction. Results showed a 29% decrease in sitting time and absent PSP for phase B. Subsequently, in phase A2, the sitting time returned close to baseline values. Questionnaires reported MSD alleviation and stability of working conditions. Interviews confirmed automation’s benefits for maintaining postural hygiene. Findings suggest that an interactive system can facilitate SSD adoption and promote postural hygiene at the office. HIGHLIGHTSWe added an interactive system to a usual sit-stand desk to force posture change.We tested iSSD usability by teleworkers through data tracked by the system sensors.We conducted qualitative interviews to assess participants’ satisfaction with iSSD.Using an iSSD could help office workers reduce prolonged static postures.Participants appreciated automated posture changes imposed by the interactive system.

Providing healthcare in remote locations can prove to be costly. Using a static videoconference system in the patient's home has its limitations. A remotely operated mobile robot platform could provide a better interaction with the patient located at home. This paper presents Telerobot, a teleoperated mobile robotic platform equipped with videoconferencing capabilities. Developed by a team of roboticists and clinical experts, the system is designed specifically for the provision of in-home telerehabilitation services. A usability study was done in order to qualify the robot user control scheme and the clinician-patient interaction.

Auditory capabilities would allow small robots interacting with people to act according to vocal cues. In our recent work, we have demonstrated AUDIBLE, an auditory system capable of sound source localization, tracking and separation in real-time, using an array of eight microphones and running on a laptop computer. The system is able to localize and track up to four sources, while separating up to three sources in real-time in noisy environments. Signal processing techniques can be quite computer intensive, and the question of making it possible for this system to run on platforms that cannot carry a laptop computer onboard can be raised. This paper reports our investigation of the appropriate compromises to be made to AUDIBLE's implementation in order to port the system on an embedded DSP (Digital Signal Processor) platform. The DSP implementation is fully functional and performs well with minor limitations compared to the original system i.e., limitations on sound source duration and on the number of sources that can be processed simultaneously. Results demonstrate that it is feasible to port AUDIBLE on embedded platforms, opening up its use in field applications such as human-robot interaction in real life settings.