Determination of the perception threshold between conscious and subconscious sitting discomfort

Abstract

Static sitting is a cause of musculo-skeletal disorders. In order to reduce the stress on muscles and intervertebral discs, seated workplaces should therefore be designed to promote the user’s movement of body and limbs at regular intervals [1]. One approach to achieve a frequent change of sitting posture is the generation of subconscious sitting discomfort within the seat using the ‘princess on the pea’ effect [2]. In order to determine the requirements an office chair is modified as a test bench and equipped with actuators and sensors. A test program is designed to ensure automatic test execution and data evaluation. The participant indicates the threshold value between conscious and subconscious strain and sitting discomfort. In addition, the participants are asked to identify the position of occurrence. This is to confirm the whether or not the sitting discomfort can be localized exactly.