My first thought is that the monitors would be way too far away for someone with poor eyesight like myself. Which reminded me...<p>At my last dentist appointment I was thinking about how comfortable the chair was and wondering whether you could set up a workstation with one (perhaps with totally separated right and left hand keyboards so your arms rest at your sides?) To make it work, I think you'd need monitors on like boom arms essentially suspended above you. Anyone tried something like this?
I think a better solution is to not have one designated body position for work.<p>I have an office with only a standing desk but I'll come in and sit by the table, or on the recliner, or even lie on the floor.<p>The hardest part was getting myself trained to be just as productive on one monitor.<p>My anecdotal evidence is I feel this has been better than doing X day-after-day year-after-year.
Saw the "CSAIL" domain and I expected steps 4-20 to describe how to attach an electric motor, some actuators, and software to automatically direct the chair to a specific monitor based on facial recognition from the webcams in each.<p>...but this is pretty cool too.
I use one of these bad boys: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Balance-Ball-Chairs/dp/B006JBWYDA" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Gaiam-Balance-Ball-Chairs/dp/B006JBWYD...</a><p>My wife/business partner also uses one and (begrudgingly) convinced me to ditch my $300+ leather office chair for one.<p>I'm sold. It's the best option short of sitting on just the ball part (which engages more balance muscles)<p>The best part is your can't "slump" into the chair if you're feeling tired. The best option at that point it to get up and do something else as opposed to fighting your body and relying on a <i>Lazy-Boy</i> approach.<p>What I like especially is that when listening to music, or when you're feeling energetic you (subconsciously at times) tend to bounce and roll your butt around on the ball which exercises even more muscles in your back/lower body.
My setup: <a href="http://i.imgur.com/HKhovMT.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://i.imgur.com/HKhovMT.jpg</a><p>I used to sit on a normal desk chair but it felt wrong. I can sit here for longer without issue, though I still get up every half hour. As long as I ensure my head is touching the back of the chair as well as the bottom of my back (i.e., no hunch), my spine is easily straight and I have absolutely no back problems after working for a long time, which happens on occasion, believe it or not.
Reminds me of Roger's chair : <a href="http://www.arrickrobotics.com/chair/" rel="nofollow">http://www.arrickrobotics.com/chair/</a><p>The scorpion looking thing (<a href="http://greenstylo.blogspot.com/2013/08/emperor-1510-workstation.html" rel="nofollow">http://greenstylo.blogspot.com/2013/08/emperor-1510-workstat...</a>) is probably the ultimate one for me though. That would be pretty awesome.
Yet another discussion about chairs without any mention of active sitting/seating.<p>Based on my own experience with standing desks and high-end office chairs (the most recent being a Herman Miller Embody, which I ended up selling), I've concluded that I need an office setup that allows me to move throughout the day and not just stand or sit nearly motionless for most of the day.<p>After trying out all the chairs at my local office furniture stores (yet again) and enjoying a Swopper stool that one of the stores had in their showroom, I'm now planning to order a Swopper Air. The Swopper is the most comfortable active seating solution that I've tried (but I haven't spent hours sitting on it yet).<p>I hope the Swopper Air works out for me. If not, I'll finally pull the trigger on a LifeSpan TR5000-DT3 treadmill for my standing desk.
As someone who's struggled with back + shoulder pain and having gone through a few expensive chairs, now I feel that a correct posture is more important than chair. I have a cheap cookie cutter chair + a thin pillow and I can work much better.
Not advertising anything, just go to Amazon and search "back pain" in books. Probably the first entry is the one. It teaches you how to correct your posture naturally. Or just watch a video from the book author on youtube. I think that technique alone will fix a lot of the problems.
How much sport do you do for your back? This setup looks like it's comfortable, but not healthy. I'm not a physician but a friend of mine is, he said this is not a good idea, you need to move your back etc to give nutrition to your spinal discs. I'm using a Swopper as chair, it's quite nice and allows me to move around all day, but it also requires discipline and a bit of back training.
I've been thinking about something similar to this since reading this article - <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm" rel="nofollow">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6187080.stm</a><p>I was thinking of going one step further and suspending my monitor over my face - at a reasonable distance of course :)
He's using a Kinesis keyboard, which does seem to come up a lot in ergonomic discussions. Does it offer anything over a Tek (<a href="https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php" rel="nofollow">https://www.trulyergonomic.com/store/index.php</a>)?
While (ironically) that is <i>exactly</i> the La-Z-Boy from which I watch television and sometimes sleep, it would be an ergonomic disaster for me to work from it.<p>1. I have a (really) long body and (freakishly IMO) short legs (as in my wife is 6" shorter than me but still has longer legs). If my arms were extended down to the arm rests for typing, fuggedaboutit, I'd be crippled in a week.<p>2. Due to uncorrectable vision issues, I have a 30" monitor roughly 1' from my face. I would barely be able to read text on the monitor setup you have.<p>3. Can't use a mouse, can't use a kinesis keyboard sadly.<p>4. Haven't been able to use laptops effectively for 15+ years. Ironically, tablets are no problem. Go figure that one out.<p>That said, we seem to share a passion for hoarding gadgets.
We recently moved to the new flat and I had to give up my desk in a hope to do all the coding at work.<p>Of course you have to do some coding at home, but without a desk it is not so convenient especially that my Linux box is a desktop.<p>So I ended up having a TV screen instead of a monitor, couch instead of an office chair and having a keyboard on my laps with no desk at all. Kinesis Advantage seems to be specifically designed to be used in this way. It is very convenient and feels ergonomic.<p>I'm a bit annoyed by the TV which is a bit too far and I have to reduce the resolution for easier reading.<p>It is fun to see somebody else coding in a similar way.
I don't think reclining is that great for your shoulders / neck since it encourages your shoulders to slump forward and you will be likely to hold your head forward in order to see your monitor properly.
My eyes aren't good enough to sit that far away from the monitor. I had back pain, and other aches too -- then I decided to just get in shape. I do high intensity circuit training (mix of cardio / strength) 3x a week, and all my physical problems disappeared. I've never felt better.<p>I often sit at my desk exactly how you are not supposed to: slouched with feet up on the desk...but b/c my core is strong, it doesn't ever phase me. I think most people will find if they just get in shape, a lot of these desk fads will just go away for them.
I like MIT dormitory culture. As freshman you have to decorate the dorm room yourself. You have to build the bed frame, the table yourself. I love that culture.
I actually like that setup, as I prefer a chair that leans back as well. And the area looks cozy...I like some clutter, I feel more comfortable in spaces like that.<p>Here are my suggestions for the rest of your setup:<p>1. Monitor arms. That will allow you to move you monitors around easily. I use one from 3m.
2. Deeper desk. I use an old kitchen table that is really just a thick 4x8 sheet of plywood.
I injured my foot a few months ago, and as a result had significant swelling in my foot. The best solution is to elevate the foot, which has led me to working much of the day from a recliner (I work from home), with the laptop in my lap. It's been surprisingly comfortable. I'm not sure I could do it forever though.
This is close to a design in my head. I even bought the LaZBoy to work on it.<p>What we need is a swing away arm similar to the nav console in Star Trek: The Next Generation.<p>The only problem tends to be that you have to keep the keyboard and mouse separate from the monitor arm so that your screens don't shake.
Hospital beds start at about $500. I might have to put together a kickstarter campaign for a hospital bed, downward facing monitor, and split keyboard setup. The only thing I can't figure out is the mouse. Would a motion tracking mouse that follows your nose be too much?
I think I'm not off topic, but what's the name of your keyboard? I'm considering the Microsoft Sculpt keyboard as a replace for my current Microsoft 4000, in order to relief me from pain on the back of my right shoulder...
I know the guy says he tried a standing desk...but I wonder if he calibrated it correctly? It's more than just standing in front of a desk, you have to get all the measurements correct as well.
On a lot of La-Z-Boy chairs, there are two wingnuts that can adjust the back tension; I would think tightening those down would make operating the chair more stable while wheels were engaged.
My dream chair is a lazy-boy with two trackballs in both armrests, a swiveling 24" display and a swiveling wireless keyboard attached to the base of the left armrest. A pivoting right armrest for easy enter/exit like an airplane.<p>Just sit, rest your arms, control the display with the trackballs and when you need to code, slide the keyboard in and type furiously without moving your head from its resting position, like looking to the ceiling.<p>If you place a laptop on your legs, the neck will suffer after some time.<p>I know, I am a lazy-boy surfer.