Comfort to fore for desk-bound

By PAUL BRISLEN


We spend an astonishing amount of time in front of a PC. We're exposed to the environment from an early age, we use them at work, at home, and we're expected to continue using them in retirement.

What toll does that take on our bodies? Occupational overuse syndrome, repetitive strain injury, eye strain, neck and back problems. The human body isn't really engineered with the PC in mind. Laptops are also part of the equation, and as more of us switch to using portable devices we only compound the problem.

However, it's not all bad news. The hardware-makers are producing new input/output devices designed for long-term survivability. Even the software vendors are involved, and sufferers can buy software that will remind them, gently at first, to take a break, following up with a lockout period if required.

Experts agree the best way to deal with overuse is to avoid it in the first place.

Posture is all important. The first mistake home-users make is to assume they won't use the PC all that much. How often have you seen a desk with the monitor, keyboard and mouse off to one side? If you're using the PC for anything more than a few minutes at a time, the keyboard and screen should be directly in front of the chair, with the monitor about an arm's length from the user.

Some computer desks assume users will have either a tiny monitor or a flat screen, but today's PCs are typically sold with a 43cm monitor or larger, making it difficult to get them positioned well. The top of the screen should be at eye level or as close to it as possible, says Occupational Safety and Health .

Perhaps the most important part of the home set-up is the chair. A fully adjustable chair that offers good back support can make up for working at a kitchen table or non-adjustable desk.

Keyboard and mouse manufacturers are also jumping into the fray, both Microsoft and Logitech producing a series of more ergonomically designed devices. This is probably just as well, as Microsoft estimates the average typist moves their fingers between 19km and 32km a day.

Aside from the exotic keyboards, such as those that break in half completely, modern keyboards are available in a range of sizes and styles. The split keyboards, such as Microsoft's Natural Keyboard range introduced in 1994, are designed with touch typists in mind.

Those two-fingered typists who hunt and peck can find them difficult as the keys are split into two groups, but for those trained to use all the fingers, they can be extremely useful.

People with larger hands can also find them more comfortable than traditionally arranged keys.

Microsoft's new keyboards boast a slightly different design that its engineers say will increase user comfort, but only time will tell. The best advice is to try a range of keyboards and to stick with one that works for you.

The biggest ache-and-pain problem area must surely be the mouse. Those early mice were not designed for the hand, and could induce shooting pains in the hardiest users.

Today's mice come in a range of designs, colours and sizes to suit all hands. Strangely, there seems to be a move away from left-handed mice, with Logitech withdrawing its only left-handed mouse in favour of ambidextrous devices.

Most modern mice are curvy and sinuous. Mice have become specialist rodents - the days of one size fits all are long gone. Today you can buy mice with infrared beams or programmable buttons, wireless mice, mice for laptops, mice for gamers and even mice that use a laser beam instead of a ball.

The basic shape and use of the mouse is the same as when it was introduced, so users who have trouble with elbows or fingers also have several options. Trackballs and joystick-like mice abound.

Microsoft, Logitech and other companies are making mice for people who don't like mice.

The ultimate solution is probably to do away with both keyboard and mouse altogether. Speech recognition has come a long way in the past decade, and Microsoft and IBM have been hard at work producing a consumer-based service that will deliver on its promises.

Leading the pack is probably ScanSoft's Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is now up to version seven. Users who are not adept at the keyboard, or who have trouble using mouse and keys for whatever reason, are taking to speech recognition in droves and training the system can be done in less than an hour. Older versions required users to speak each word distinctly, and training could take more than 100 hours, but that's been dramatically reduced.

Speech recognition is not the answer to everyone's repetitive strain issues. Talking to your PC for eight hours a day is just as likely to cause throat issues as typing constantly would cause issues with hands and arms. As users struggle with the work/life balance, it's also important to consider switching off the computer and going outside for a bit as well.