When It Comes to Posture Correction Products, Do Designers Really Know What They Are Doing?
Posted by admin on Dec 16, 2008
In October of 2007, Austria’s national design award „Adolf Loos Staatspreis Design” awarded at the ergonomic posture correction garment in the first place in their design competition.
I have some pretty strong opinions about the role of product design in their correcting posture, so I read with interest the details of this thin undergarment. The Ergoskin orthopaedic vest gives biofeedback, which is designed to help people remember to have a good posture. Posture alarms are nothing new, inventors and designers have been trying for years to fix people’s bad posture with all sorts of gadgets.
The thing that sets this one apart is that it uses a nano technology in order to achieve the same end. Tiny sensors and pistons in the fabric are able to communicate to the wearer with tiny mechanical impulses to the surface of the skin.
Although the technology in this product is pretty exciting, I think that the design brief could have been stronger. However it may serve some purpose in collecting data en masse. I have written more about my opinions on this product as a comment on this page.
I think that it is pretty ironic that third place for the competition was awarded to a chair design which looked wonderful but had a seat that sloped backwards (a feature that I strongly believe encourages poor posture). With these two products you could drive a person insane ☺
