New wearable uses haptic feedback to combat back pain

Back pain is one of the main causes of everyday afflictions and sick leave in the western world. This is often due to physical inactivity in a sedentary office environment, aggravated by a lack of compensatory exercise such as sports and gymnastics.

StraightUp, a spin-off founded by three graduates from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), aims at fighting back pain in the long term and sustainably with an innovative idea. They have developed a wearable textile product that measures the shoulder position and the inclination of the back using woven-in elastic wires and a suitable sensing system, providing haptic feedback to ensure a lasting posture optimization.

Current postural stabilization systems solely hold the back in place, which considerably restricts the user's mobility in the long term. Other approaches with built-in inclination sensors, which trigger a vibration stimulus when the body leans forward, are disadvantageous in that many everyday and sports activities are carried out in a forward-leaning position, therefore triggering false vibration stimuli.

New approach using an elastic metal alloy and leveraging AI

The StraightUp spin-off is tackling this problem with an innovative idea. Erik Vautrin, Marcus Hamann-Schroer, and Jan Bartenbach, three KIT graduates, teamed up with physiotherapist Tobias Baierle to develop a visionary textile wearable, which measures the shoulder position and the inclination of the back using elastic wires incorporated into the fabric.

Using the data obtained this way and relying on a woven-in chip controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), the system generates haptic feedback in the form of vibrations that encourage the users to correct their posture. A conductive super-elastic metal alloy, which adapts perfectly to the movements of the person wearing the product, enabled the use of this sensing system.

"The haptic feedback teaches the body to maintain a healthier posture by itself so that a long-term improvement can be achieved. The feedback system promotes active stabilization of the shoulder blades and corrects the posture of the spine," explains Baierle. The wearable can be worn both in everyday life and during leisure and sports activities.

Further steps on the path to establishing the spin-off and achieving commercial viability

The team currently cooperates with the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research to enable the best possible integration of the sensing system into the wearable. "This partnership is a big step toward commercial viability of the wearable," explains Vautrin.

Later this year, optimization tests involving doctors, physiotherapists, and other experts will be conducted. The aim is to test the enhanced product on potential customers by the end of the year.

Provided by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology