I’ve always had posture even when I was little (well, I still am little) and I think it’s gotten relatively worse over the past decade or so. That’s because I spend more than half of the day sitting in front of the computer and not doing any physical activity. I’ve tried to do some exercises and even put some reminders on my smartwatch to move around every once in a while but it hasn’t really made a difference. I sometimes think that I need someone to remind me to sit up straight when I’m slouching, which is like 80% of the time.

Designer: Chris Thursfield

A concept for an AI-powered device that can do just that is pretty interesting and can be useful for people like me. The Amio – AI desk assistant will be able to bring you real-time feedback on your posture while you’re at your desk or wherever you bring and place the sensor. It is docked on a charging station but can easily be transferred so you can bring it with you to the office when you need to come in or maybe even to a coffee shop that you’re working in, provided you have the space.

The device has an “emotion based” user interface so it can let you know how you’re doing posture-wise in real time. It uses a CMOS sensor that can detect your body skeletal position and an infrared projector and sensor for depth perception. It can tell you that you’ve got good posture in the past hour but will also remind you to take a break soon. It can also tell you that your posture has been declining and assumes that you may be getting tired already. It can also tell you that your posture has “declined quite significantly” and asks if you need some tips.

If you want more details and deeper insights, it will tell you to check the computer or the mobile app. The device itself looks like a bigger webcamera or a smaller smart speaker. In case security is an issue for you, you can turn the sensor downwards and enter incognito mode. The designer though says that vision images will never leave the device and will probably not be saved on a cloud server somewhere. Hopefully this is a device that can become a reality someday as it will be pretty useful for those spending their time in front of a desk.