Development of a Low-Cost Device to Monitor and Alert Prolonged Sitting Posture

Dumaguit, Rebekah

doi:10.25673/123068

Proceedings of International Conference on Applied Innovation in IT · 2025/12/22 · Vol. 13 · Issue 5 · pp. 475–480

Development of a Low-Cost Device to Monitor and Alert Prolonged Sitting Posture

Rebekah C. Gempero and James M. Dumaguit

📄 Download PDF DOI: 10.25673/123068

Abstract

Prolonged sitting is a significant public health problem, associated with musculoskeletal pain, hypertension, fatigue, and decreased productivity. Existing solutions such as wearable IMUs, computer-vision systems, and mobile apps are often costly, intrusive, or dependent on sustained user engagement, limiting their practical adoption. This study presents a low-cost, non-intrusive device designed to monitor prolonged sitting and provide real-time auditory alerts to encourage movement breaks. The system integrates an ultrasonic sensor with an Arduino microcontroller programmed with a 60-minute countdown timer; the alarm is triggered if the user remains seated beyond this period. The device was tested with 90 participants (50 students, 20 office workers, 20 faculty), achieving a detection accuracy of 93.4%, with a false positive rate of 4.2% and false negative rate of 2.4%. User evaluation showed high acceptance, with financial feasibility rated 4.13/5, hardware accessibility 4.21/5, and perceived health benefits 4.55/5. Limitations include lack of posture-specific monitoring, basic alert modes, and limited portability. Future improvements will focus on AI-based posture recognition, enhanced sensor calibration, mobile app integration, and wireless operation for broader usability and ergonomic monitoring.

Keywords

Prolonged Sitting Sedentary Lifestyle Ergonomics Posture Monitoring Arduino-based Device Wearable Health Health Technology.

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