User talk:FGrose

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The Health content page really isn't the appropriate place for Safe Use of the XO and Peripherals. If you're producing materials that could be considered Health content we ought to make you your own page and link your materials properly. Perhaps Health Ergonomics?

It's really unfortunate that the XO has such bad ergonomics. Perhaps with proper input the Write activity could be given a RSI forced break for X seconds every Y minutes. Maybe a window with a suggested exercise for one's hands? I've seen similar programs. And teaching children basic stretches and ergonomics could go a long way.

Anyway, drop me a line via email seth@isforinsects.com or on irc and I'll help you document your projects/concerns/interests. is for Insects 19:26, 4 February 2008 (EST)

Thank you for considering the safe use section. See my user page for more of my thoughts and intentions. You may see that the task of communicating health, safety, or security information requires a subtle balance with more attractive content to avoid rejection. Often we only intend to plant a seed that will begin to grow at a later time, but hopefully before an incident, so those involved will have some reference or guidance points.
I like your idea for reminder software in some activities. I like the format of the Desk-Trainer software, http://www.desk-trainer.com/. It is an example of how computer graphics can be used to assist in physical and health education. --FGrose 04:02, 5 February 2008 (EST)

Welcome!

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Cheers, ixo  (talk or discussion)

--ixo 18:17, 12 February 2008 (EST)

thanks and ergonomics/safety

thanks for the excellent edit to Wiki getting started - great clarification.

noticed you're one person behind the ergonomics project - would you mind filling me in on how that's going sometime? ergonomics is a special interest of mine (well, one of my many interests; my family has a history of carpal tunnel, I've gotten mild RSI before, and I'm hoping to run a project during the Health Jam or otherwise - or earlier, if possible (main limitation: my time and my access to components) - to test muscle strain and postural differences between various keyboards, "normal" laptops, and the XO for both kids and adults with different hand/finger/shoulder/etc. dimensions (and hopefully mobility, if we can find one-handed etc. typists). I know how to build test equipment, but almost nothing about how ergonomics tests are usually run, or ergonomics as a medial study proper.

also, the students at Olin have equipment and know-how and the desire to run other safety tests on the XO (they'll be using impact testers, etc. in their materials science lab to check various physical qualities this coming weekend, including when dropping/smashing things might become a hazard) - I'll be there for the tests if you want to chime in on that as well. Contact info on my user page.

Best, Mchua 14:34, 13 February 2008 (EST)

Thank you for your interest in the ergonomics of the XO.
So far, I have posted in the Ergoweb Forum, OLPC, an education project, a fledgling scientific distribution site, SciVee, and plan to continue to alert the ergonomics community through the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and other contacts. I know that there are already several public health and human factors students involved in the project and many more interested.
Analysis of musculoskeletal disorders and their causes generally involves understanding the postures, forces, repetitions (frequencies, durations, and patterns) of movements and of recovery times or the complementary movements during rest periods that provide physiological relief to the tissues involved.
Repetitive strain and other overuse health problems are also very much affected by the wage and physiological conditions of the tissues involved, and may also be affected by environmental stressors. On top of that, individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational behaviors are know to play important roles in the progression and recovery from musculoskeletal disorders. All this makes it a complex and easily convoluted problem.
We have learned a great deal from experience with adults, but published knowledge about children's susceptibilities and capacities is more limited. A recently published textbook, Ergonomics for children, Designing products and places for toddlers to teens, Edited by Rani Lueder and Valerie Berg Rice, Taylor & Francis (London & N.Y.) ISBN No.: 0415304741, is a reference I would recommend.
Those interested may also want to read articles such as this one just published, Children's Posture and Muscle Activity at Different Computer Display Heights and During Paper Information Technology Use, by Leon Straker, Robin Burgess-Limerick, Clare Pollock, Jemma Coleman, Rachel Skoss, and Barbara Maslen, Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Volume 50, Number 1, February 2008 , pp. 49-61(13). (It should be available in a medical or engineering library near you.)
I found it interesting to see that some of the Mongolian children had their new XOs set up on the shipping box, which seems to help their posture. The project's photos and video could be mined for other postures and behaviors as revealed by these photos: <imagemap>

image:P1020083-1.JPG|340px rect 1 1 680 680 Ulaanbaatar desc none </imagemap> The generous G1G1 donors of North America have given of tens of thousands of XO laptops to children in developing countries, including these new XOers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Photo by Carla Gomez Monroy, Learning Consultant, OLPC, 17 Jan 2008)

<imagemap>

image:P1020516-1.JPG|340px rect 1 1 680 680 Ulaanbaatar desc none </imagemap> The generous G1G1 donors of North America have given of tens of thousands of XO laptops to children in developing countries, including these new XOers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Photo by Carla Gomez Monroy, Learning Consultant, OLPC, 17 Jan 2008)

<imagemap>

image:P1020624-1.JPG|340px rect 1 1 680 680 Ulaanbaatar desc none </imagemap> The generous G1G1 donors of North America have given of tens of thousands of XO laptops to children in developing countries, including these new XOers in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (Photo by Carla Gomez Monroy, Learning Consultant, OLPC, 17 Jan 2008)

Your idea of studying postures could prove valuable in building an observation set of the variables I noted above for further technical study. You should start by reading some research papers and identifying some professors or students currently working in biomechanics, work physiology, occupational or physical therapy, orthopedics, or any or the related fields.
From a software support point-of-view, you might be able to identify or coordinate some activity tracking software that could be used to collect quantitative information on the time patterns of various activities by individual users. There are some studies of this for adults, but there are no generally accepted dosimetry standards in ergonomics. However, all the energy conservation work that is going into the XO hardware and software may lead to some really useful tools to begin to collect the raw data to support new discoveries for children's ergonomics.
We can continue to collect ideas and references on wiki pages as we work toward a critical mass of participation.
Looking forward, --FGrose 00:12, 14 February 2008 (EST)
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