Repetitive strain injuries and ergonomics concerns have become increasingly significant health issues as a growing number of individuals frequently use computers for long periods of time. Currently, limited software mechanisms exist for managing ergonomics; the most well-known are \u201cbreak-reminder\u201d packages that schedule and recommend typing breaks. Yet despite the proven benefits of taking breaks, such packages are rarely adopted due to the overhead of introducing periodic interruptions into a user\u2019s workflow. In this paper, we describe SuperBreak, a break reminder package that provides hands-free interactions during breaks, with the goal of encouraging users to take more breaks and enhancing the benefits of those breaks. In a field study of 26 knowledge workers, 85% preferred SuperBreak over a traditional break-reminder system, and on average participants took a higher percentage of the interactive breaks suggested to them. Our results highlight the value of interactivity for improving the adoption and retention of ergonomic break practices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Repetitive strain injuries and ergonomics concerns have become increasingly significant health issues as a growing number of individuals frequently use computers for long periods of time. Currently, limited software mechanisms exist for managing ergonomics; the most well-known are \u201cbreak-reminder\u201d packages that schedule and recommend typing breaks. Yet despite the proven benefits of taking breaks, such […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","footnotes":""},"msr-content-type":[3],"msr-research-highlight":[],"research-area":[13553],"msr-publication-type":[193716],"msr-product-type":[],"msr-focus-area":[],"msr-platform":[],"msr-download-source":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"msr-field-of-study":[],"msr-conference":[],"msr-journal":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-145408","msr-research-item","type-msr-research-item","status-publish","hentry","msr-research-area-medical-health-genomics","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_publishername":"ACM","msr_edition":"CHI '08 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems","msr_affiliation":"","msr_published_date":"2008-04-06","msr_host":"","msr_duration":"","msr_version":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_pages_string":"1817-1826","msr_chapter":"","msr_isbn":"978-1-60558-011-1","msr_journal":"","msr_volume":"","msr_number":"","msr_editors":"","msr_series":"","msr_issue":"","msr_organization":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_notes":"","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_download_urls":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":1,"msr_main_download":"208342","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_doi":"10.1145\/1357054.1357337","msr_publication_uploader":[{"type":"file","title":"superbreakchi2008.pdf","viewUrl":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/superbreakchi2008.pdf","id":208342,"label_id":0},{"type":"doi","title":"10.1145\/1357054.1357337","viewUrl":false,"id":false,"label_id":0}],"msr_related_uploader":"","msr_attachments":[{"id":208342,"url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/superbreakchi2008.pdf"}],"msr-author-ordering":[{"type":"user_nicename","value":"dan","user_id":31522,"rest_url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=dan"},{"type":"user_nicename","value":"ajbrush","user_id":30886,"rest_url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=ajbrush"},{"type":"user_nicename","value":"brianme","user_id":31299,"rest_url":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/wp-json\/microsoft-research\/v1\/researchers?person=brianme"}],"msr_impact_theme":[],"msr_research_lab":[199565],"msr_event":[],"msr_group":[],"msr_project":[327863],"publication":[],"video":[],"download":[],"msr_publication_type":"inproceedings","related_content":{"projects":[{"ID":327863,"post_title":"SuperBreak: Using Interactivity to Enhance Ergonomic Typing Breaks","post_name":"superbreak-using-interactivity-enhance-ergonomic-typing-breaks","post_type":"msr-project","post_date":"2016-11-28 10:39:14","post_modified":"2017-10-20 13:59:05","post_status":"publish","permalink":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/superbreak-using-interactivity-enhance-ergonomic-typing-breaks\/","post_excerpt":"Repetitive strain injuries and ergonomics concerns have become increasingly significant health issues as a growing number of individuals frequently use computers for long periods of time. 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