Ergonomic product designer and manufacturer Humanscale (www.humanscale.com) has launched a multi-purpose platform that will utilize Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to both encourage healthy workplace practices and increase the efficiency of office management.
Developed with Tome (www.tomesoftware.com), a leader in active lifestyle connectivity solutions within the Internet of Things community, the OfficeIQ platform will use multiple sensor technologies and software algorithms to gather data on sit/stand desk use and occupancy of individual desks and chairs throughout an office.
Sitting Smart, Standing Smarter
The health benefits of a standing desk have been widely reported and the OfficeIQ system embraces it and quantifies it on an office-wide scale. A small box mounted on each desk houses occupancy and height sensors and gathers sit/stand data, calculates calories spent and gives users real time feedback on their activity.
Users can opt-in to receive activity scores and sit/stand reminders, while companies can create friendly competition between departments.
OfficeIQ effectively promotes small changes in workday behavior, encouraging physical activity that, in the long run, can have a huge impact on health.
— Massimo Baldini, Tome President
The system is designed to keep the individual’s data anonymous, even calling the data policy “Don’t be Creepy”. The aggregated data is returned to the company, enabling it to track occupancy and utilization rates.
At CES in Las Vegas, Humanscale and Tome announced a collaborative program with Premera Blue Cross to use the OfficeIQ platform with their approximately 3700 employees to expand the understanding of how healthy and active lifestyle choices can be promoted using IoT hardware and innovative software.
Systems like Humanscale’s OfficeIQ are a perfect example of the alternate devices that we predicted would start to be connected to the Internet of Things (2016 Predictions for the Internet of Things, The Architechnologist, 3-Jan-16). Not everyone will need or want a smart office, but there will be many who do… and more and more desks and chairs (and everything else) will be available with the ability to connect with the Internet of Things.