ErgoSlope Ergonomic Desk Upgrade
December 2nd, 2008 | Published in RSI Products | Tags: ergonomics
I came across this product, and thought it was interesting:
The ErgoSlope came into being from the practical needs of the ErgoSlope creator. Working long hours at a desk in a large corporate environment, he frequently jumped between various uncomfortable workstation setups, where wrists rested on the edges of desks and keyboards weren’t anywhere near monitors. Coming home, he worked many more hours sitting in front of his computer on 3D graphics and designs. The pain intensified so much that one day he decided to design a desk around a comfortable seating and working position. Once the desk was crafted, the pain went away almost instantly! So many people liked the idea and requested desktops of their own, he determined to make it available to others. The result is the ErgoSlope!
The ErgoSlope is a gently sloping and notched add on desktop which attaches easily to your existing desk in just seconds. It provides comfortable support for your forearms and elbows and allows for wrist and arm angles which match the natural ‘rest angle’ of your joints.
Combine your ErgoSlope with a positive curvature ergonomic keyboard and a seat which reclines slightly back and you have attained the position closest to the neutral resting position of your joints and which produces the least strain on your lower back, arms, and wrists.
The ErgoSlope inexpensively and easily slopes your desktop up toward your arms for a more comfortable seating position and supports your arms at your elbows, not at your wrists. It is a true “ergonomic” desk which conforms to your general ergonomic needs, it is not a rectangle you mold yourself around. Since you can pull right up into the desk, the desk cradles you and discourages that ‘hunched back’ syndrome. Keyboard trays still support the weight of the arm at the wrists, creating uncomfortable pressure points and contributing to repetitive strain injuries, and often encourage the wrist to bend up and backwards, an un-natural and uncomfortable position for the wrist. The position most conducive to alleviating back strain is to lean back about 15 to 20 degrees from the vertical, and to have your elbows open to their neutral resting position, the only way to achieve this is if your desktop slopes up gently!
Other than the potential problem of everything on your desk eventually slipping off into your lap, this sounds like a neat concept.
It also sounds like something you could prototype for yourself fairly easily, just by propping up the back up your desk a few inches. If you like the feel of it, it might be worth investing in the ErgoSlope.
What do you think? Is this a good idea? Have you tried it?
Learn more about ErgoSlope at ergoslope.com.
