Anti-RSI ergonomic workstation

[pi]

I've been coding computers to 20 years.
I've been suffering strain injuries for 15.

I've put a huge amount of effort into alternative input devices (naturalpoint ergodex maltron datahand leap eyetribe speech-reco, footpedals, gyromouse, even building my own stuff out of trackpoints...), and not nearly enough into creating an ergonomic workstation.

Looking at the commercial alternatives, I think I'm going to have to DIY something to a degree.

I've just got hold of a Herman Miller Mirra chair -- I had to start somewhere.

Now my problem is that I can't find anywhere comfortable to put the keyboard.

I'm thinking: no desk, just an arm for the monitor and another for an input tray (left to right trackpad, keyboard, mouse).

I've come across the idea of using another monitor arm and just making your own tray and screwing it onto the VESA plate. That sounds interesting.

Another idea is to attach the input tray to the chair. I'm still having some trouble seeing this one. The idea of a separate keyboard for each hand sounds appealing, but quickly this goes off the map.

Another idea is to make the workspace that allows standing and sitting. I've had good experience with standing workspaces in the past. The idea would be to stand when coding, sit when reading.

Movable monitor arm would allow reading in the recline position.

I've looked at zero gravity chairs, but my experience is that I tend to fall asleep if I'm lying down, I think it's something biological, and I'm not convinced I would focus or work well at such a shallow incline. I have however put some thought into designing my own Zero-gravity solution with an old car chair and small gauge scaffolding.

Something that can slide up or down would allow sitting or standing. I don't think arms on their own would allow this degree of vertical movement.  Ergotron seem to have something here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0076O1NCM.  It's rather pricey. I wonder if I can make something using the mechanism out of an office chair for example.  Or something with counterbalance weights like those gym exercise machines.

I don't want to make this post too long. It's a foray into a new community. I'd love to hear how other people have solved this particular problem.

I just posted something similar on reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/2v30la/antirsi_ergonomic_workstation/)

[jacobolus]

I’ve been rocking a setup like this for the past few months, and I like it a lot:


Motorized sit–stand desk, monitors on articulating arms, HÅG Capisco chair, something propped under the front side of the keyboard. Some improvements could still be made, notably moving the monitors a bit further away and switching to a non-standard keyboard shape (I still need to build it), but it’s overall pretty good, and very flexible, supporting at least 4 different sitting positions plus a standing option, for one 5'3" and one 6'2" user (at different times) with adjustment times of a few seconds.

You might find this topic interesting: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63234

[hoggy]

I've got an ergotron.  It's a fantastic keyboard and monitor stand. The only drawback is that your desk will be too far away to be anything but a shelf.

In the meantime, you could try putting your board on your lap, it can be quite comfy.

[tp4tissue]

--.. Which  body-part  are you having RSI issues with..

[Gerk]

Ouch jacobolus .. your monitor positions would have me at the chiropractor three times a week ... but each to their own.  Most resources say that the top of your monitor should be roughly at eye level so that you don't strain your head/neck.  This is a big issue for me personally, when I have to spend too much time working on my laptop while on the road I end up with all kinds of neck strain :/

[jacobolus]

Most resources say that the top of your monitor should be roughly at eye level so that you don't strain your head/neck.

There’s actually a big dispute about this among experts:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63234

[JaccoW]

Ouch jacobolus .. your monitor positions would have me at the chiropractor three times a week ... but each to their own.  Most resources say that the top of your monitor should be roughly at eye level so that you don't strain your head/neck.  This is a big issue for me personally, when I have to spend too much time working on my laptop while on the road I end up with all kinds of neck strain :/

Ever considered a lightweight portable stand like the roost stand?

[Gerk]

Ouch jacobolus .. your monitor positions would have me at the chiropractor three times a week ... but each to their own.  Most resources say that the top of your monitor should be roughly at eye level so that you don't strain your head/neck.  This is a big issue for me personally, when I have to spend too much time working on my laptop while on the road I end up with all kinds of neck strain :/

Ever considered a lightweight portable stand like the roost stand?

I have an mStand Rain that I use at home but I don't generally drag it out on the road with me as most times I'm having to use my laptop on the fly so it wouldn't be practical to bust out the stand, keyboard, mouse, etc.  Sometimes I do drag it with me for use in the hotel room, but it really depends on the trip, etc.

Most resources say that the top of your monitor should be roughly at eye level so that you don't strain your head/neck.

There�s actually a big dispute about this among experts:

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63234

I know why my neck tells me when things are wrong and personally having my screens too low (or too high, I've done that before too) is a bad thing.  Anything that puts additional strain on your neck is a bad thing and having your head tilted down certainly does put more strain on the muscle groups ... so I dunno.  I trust what my body tells me works for me more than any experts

[jacobolus]

There’s actually a big dispute about [the proper position and orientation of computer displays] among experts: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=63234

I know why my neck tells me when things are wrong and personally having my screens too low (or too high, I've done that before too) is a bad thing.  Anything that puts additional strain on your neck is a bad thing and having your head tilted down certainly does put more strain on the muscle groups ... so I dunno.  I trust what my body tells me works for me more than any experts

Sure thing. Note though that you don’t necessarily need to tilt your neck to look slightly downward. Eyes also swivel around in their sockets. :-)

[Gerk]

Ok but don't laugh here ... you can also strain your eyeballs!  LOL

[Gerk]

Also if you wear glasses (like I do) you are much better off looking directly through the center of the lenses as that's how they are setup for your eyes (not looking down your nose at things -- unless you have bifocals and you need to use them for everything)

[jacobolus]

I don’t have any comment about glasses: better than 20/15 vision in one eye, and a bit better than 20/20 in the other.

But anyway, when you look downward (by swiveling your eyes, not your head), your eyes can actually focus much closer (I think in some cases about twice as close) than when you look straight ahead, and when looking at anything within a few feet, focusing at the same distance while looking slightly downward causes less strain on the muscles that focus your eyes than looking straight ahead. Additionally, it also takes much less work for both eyes to swivel inward to look at the same close spot, because the muscle doesn’t have to stretch as far to make the eyes converge when looking downward as when looking straight ahead. (This was discussed in that thread I linked before, if you’re curious to see the citations.)

The theory I saw is that we’re evolutionarily adapted to look more easily at close stuff that’s pointed downward because we often need to look at stuff we’re holding in our hands, or stuff on the floor in front of us that we’re working on while squatting, whereas when looking straight ahead, we’re more often looking toward the horizon. (Seems like a plausible enough theory to me, but I’m not an expert.)

I could certainly believe that glasses impose constraints on eye comfort when looking down. Bummer, but I guess it is what it is.

As always, do whatever works for you.

[xoxo_tw]

try the Obutto

www.obutto.com

[Angrychair]

TL:DR

that is a sweet looking chair dude!