Ahrend smart chair

Abstract

This project entails the design and development of a “smart chair”, a chair that uses technology to improve the experience of the user. During the research phase it was found that employees want to be able to adjust their position, adjust their environment and see data about themselves and their workday. Since making the chair electronically adjustable would be too costly, it was decided that there would be more focus on receiving and visualising data of the user and combining that with an app. After doing the research the team moved on to make a concept. After brainstorming a lot of ideas, the team made a final concept which consists of 3 main features. It was decided that these features should be add-ons, because otherwise it is possible for customers to be deterred from buying the product if one of the features is not useful for them. The three final add-ons are: posture detection (sensors in the chair), status light at the back of the chair and a phone holder. Afterwards some prototypes were made to prove the concepts. A colour LED-strip was built into a chair to show the design of the status light, some sketches and designs of the phone holder were made to show how the mechanisms would work, and three separate prototypes were made to prove the concept of posture detection. Firstly, the data of a sensor was sent to a phone using a bluetooth module on an arduino board. This data was made visible in an app on the phone. Secondly, a data simulation was made that shows how the data can be saved on a database and how the data can be reused to give the user some insights on his posture. Finally, the chair was connected to the simulation with a MakeyMakey. Based on the results of these prototypes some advice of data-analysis and technology was made for Ahrend.