Tobias Sonne

Each day millions of computer users experience pains due to unhealthy computer habits. Research in this field mainly focuses on encouraging users to take breaks and correct their posture. This paper shows that unhealthy computer habits calls for new sensing solutions. Based on a design process including experts in the field of computer-related injuries, The Habit-Aware Mouse prototype was developed. It provides high-accuracy sensing of whether a user's fingers are hovering above the mouse. This kind of hovering is known to cause pains in the forearm. The integration of trans-parent sensing in existing products enables medical researchers to gain new insights on unhealthy habits. The Habit-Aware Mouse is a diagnostic sensing tool to get detailed knowledge about the user's unhealthy computer habits. Sensing is the first step to enable feedback, preventing injuries from finger hovering.