RePause

Inspiration

As full-time students, we find ourselves often slouched and with our heads bent forward due to working on p-sets all day or looking at a laptop. Additionally, maintaining proper neck alignment is crucial in weightlifting where improper spine alignment can be dangerous. With these problems prevalent around us, we made it our mission to resolve these matters.

What it does

RePause is a device aimed at helping you achieve better posture with live alerts throughout your day. This is all done via a custom-length headband that detects the orientation of your neck. With that input, the device outputs a "buzzing" signal to alert you of misalignment and turns off once corrected. Real-time subtle notifications can help people actively correct their posture.

Opposed to existing solutions, ours gets the best of both worlds. Two main solutions exist: one based on tension and one based on stick. Tension solutions act as rubber bands and wrap around peoples' backs, forcing correct posture. However, once the person takes off this device, they fall back into poor posture. The device addresses conditions and not root causes. The second type of solution is a sticky device that adheres to one's back, sending alerts to the user's phone. The re-adhesion and lack of prompt notification makes this device ineffective and unsustainable. We hope to solve the problems that come with existing solutions by actively building posture habits and immediately correcting users when their necks are out of line.