Poor posture is the leading cause of back pain, which affects more than 31 million people across the United States. Lower back pain is the biggest cause of disability worldwide, and is directly linked to the posture. As most back pain conditions are caused by mechanical factors, not illnesses such as inflammation or arthritis, they are easily preventable, but still contribute more than $50 billion USD annually to the US health economy.
Part of the reason poor posture has become so endemic in modern society is our reliance on digital devices such as smartphones and laptops. Constantly craning the neck forward to browse social media or type creates bad posture habits that can result in significant medical bills and ongoing health issues.
Poor posture can contribute to health conditions such as neck pain, chronic ongoing headaches, sciatica, jaw popping and jaw pain, low energy levels or chronic fatigue, upper and lower back pain, and even insomnia. Traditionally, fixing poor posture requires the assistance of a dedicated professional such as a kinesthesiologist or a chiropractor, which can be expensive solutions.
A revolutionary new piece of wearable tech being launched on popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter, however, is providing health-conscious consumers that suffer from poor posture with a highly effective and innovative way of training their posture. The ALEX+ is a wearable personal posture coach that is able to rectify poor posture in just 21 days of use, delivering a wide range of health benefits.
In this article, we’ll assess the ALEX+ and find out how it works to help you determine whether it’s the right way for you to fix your unhealthy posture habits.
What is the ALEX+?
The ALEX+ is one of the most popular new wearable health tech crowdfunding campaigns of 2017, and has captured attention from GadgetFlow, the Daily Mail, Digital Trends, Warable, and more. Promising the ability to beat text neck, exercise with a dedicated personal coach, and track progress via a dedicated app, the ALEX+ is a revolutionary innovation in health technology.
The ALEX+ is intended to alleviate the symptoms of “text neck”. As the average head weighs in at around 60 pounds, or 27 kilograms, craning your neck forward and placing stress on the vertebrae of the neck can cause serious long term health implications, resulting in severe back and neck pain.
The average modern individual spends more than three hours a day interacting with their smartphone, which is generally performed in a sitting position. Combined with the amount of time spent interacting with laptops and other devices, this interaction places a significant strain on the body. According to recent statistics, more than 45% of the American workplace suffers from the symptoms of text neck.
The ALEX+ provides individuals suffering from the negative health impact of text neck with a simple and elegant solution. While many people attempt to alleviate their text neck by maintaining good posture, remembering to keep the center of gravity of your head above your neck can be difficult, easily forgotten in the middle of a busy work day.
How ALEX+ Works
The ALEX+ consists of a small, low-profile wearable that is secured over the ears and sits upon the nape of the neck. Able to track the position of the neck, the ALEX+ is discreet, comfortable, and ergonomic. Whilst in use, the ALEX+ gently vibrates when it detects a slouch in the posture of the user, reminding them to sit up straight and align their head with their neck.
Getting started with the ALEX+ is extremely simple. After placing the ALEX+ on their neck, users are able to calibrate the fit of their device, and then pair the ALEX+ with a dedicated smartphone app that is available for both iOS and Android. The ALEX+ requires a small amount of calibration, but once it’s ready to go it’s incredibly easy to use.
The ALEX+ uses a built-in sensor suite that measures the posture of the user 10 times every second, providing a highly accurate assessment of the current posture alignment of the wearer. The adjustable arms of the ALEX+ ensure a comfortable fit for all head shapes and sizes, and the powerful rechargeable battery delivers 10 days of constant use.
The ALEX+ is powered by a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 and uses 10 bit triaxial accelerometers to detect user movement. With a low-energy bluetooth connection, the ALEX+ can remain paired to a smartphone without drawing too much power, and is able to charge up to ten days worth of use in just 3 hours.
ALEX+ Perfect Posture Wearable Coach Features & Functionality
The most unique aspect of the ALEX+ is the dedicated smartphone app it pairs with. Instead of providing simple haptic feedback for posture training, the ALEX+ system provides a dedicated personal posture coach via the ALEX+ app with Dr. ALEX, a guided exercise program.
Using Dr. ALEX, users are able to practice highly effective exercise that build good posture habits. The Dr. ALEX system consists of four guided exercises that promote long term posture health. As users run through the Dr. ALEX program, the ALEX+ continuously analyzes and updates posture data to deliver targeted, personalized, and highly actionable advice.
The ALEX+ app also provides users with the ability to track their progress over the long term, observing their posture habits in order to gain a greater understanding of the ways they can improve their overall posture health. The ALEX+ app also makes it possible to calibrate a wide range of features, such as vibration strength, alert angle ranges, and alert duration.
The ALEX+ solution builds upon the original ALEX solution, which was picked up by more than 900 eager Kickstarter backers around the world. The first generation ALEX received a powerful positive response, but in order to improve on the first design, the creative team behind the ALEX+ have made the second generation of their device lighter, more adjustable, highly customizable, and have increased the quality of the construction materials.
The ALEX+ Perfect Posture Wearable Coach Verdict
The ALEX+ is a vast improvement over the first generation of ALEX products, and is one of the most effective ways to correct posture available. If you suffer from text neck or bad posture and want to achieve rapid, lasting change, the ALEX+ Kickstarter is definitely worth backing.
