SitBot: A Posture-Mimicking Robot toReduce Slouching
Paper in proceeding, 2026
Poor posture is a common issue in modern sedentary lifestyles and can lead to long-term musculoskeletal problems. This study explores whether a robot can improve human posture through mimicry. We designed a teddy bear robot that mimics people’s slouching behaviour, and alerts the person to return to an upright posture. The prototype was tested in a controlled user study involving 20 participants. Results indicate that the inclusion of slouch mimicry tends to make people correct their posture and increases their posture awareness, without being perceived as more distracting than a baseline condition. These initial results suggest that slouch mimicry can be an effective solution to improve people’s posture while working at a desk.
Author
Chia-An Wang
Student at Chalmers
Adam Wikström
Student at Chalmers
Linus Pettersson
Student at Chalmers
Anasha Sarker
Student at Chalmers
Martina De Cet
University of Gothenburg
Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Interaction Design and Software Engineering
Georgios Diapoulis
University of Gothenburg
Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Interaction Design and Software Engineering
Mohammad Obaid
University of Gothenburg
Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Interaction Design and Software Engineering
Ilaria Torre
Chalmers, Computer Science and Engineering (Chalmers), Interaction Design and Software Engineering
University of Gothenburg
Lecture Notes in Computer Science
0302-9743 (ISSN) 1611-3349 (eISSN)
Vol. 16131 LNAI 648-654978-981952378-8 (ISBN)
17th International Conference on Social Robotics, ICSR+AI 2025
Naples, Italy,
Naples, Italy,
Subject Categories (SSIF 2025)
Medical Modelling and Simulation
Other Engineering and Technologies
Robotics and automation
Human Computer Interaction
Behavioural Sciences Biology
DOI
10.1007/978-981-95-2379-5_58