Prolonged asymmetrical sitting is common and can exacerbate musculoskeletal back pain and spinal deformities. Monitoring sitting posture can help maintain correct posture and prevent health problems. Currently posture is assessed by expert clinicians using subjective visual observation. More objective methods involve the use of a gold-standard motion capture system in Laboratories, which is expensive and not widely available. We develop a Smart-Cover, an automatic system to provide real time visualization and information about sitting posture. A Sitting Pressure Sensor (SPS) is built using Velostat, conductive fabric and foam to collect pressure distribution information within the seat surface. The data are collected from 10 healthy young subjects where each subject sits for 30 min and are transferred to a cloud server using Internet-of-Things (IoT). A rule-based classifier is used to provide timely notification to users about sitting duration and level of asymmetry. A new end-point device application is developed to show sitting balance. Dial based displays show level of asymmetry, active and static sitting, and daily summary score. Our system is user friendly, inexpensive, automatic and quantitative method for evaluating posture in real time, which has the capability of providing quantitative information about sitting behaviour. The results show that our system can be used for objective monitoring of sitting posture which has medical and social benefits. Smart-Cover can support the management of patients during their rehabilitation by monitoring pressure areas and balance when seated. In addition, it offers users at home, schools and offices the means to improve their sitting posture.

长时间不对称坐着很常见，会加剧肌肉骨骼背痛和脊柱畸形。监视坐姿可以帮助保持正确的姿势并预防健康问题。当前，姿势由专业临床医生使用主观视觉观察来评估。更客观的方法涉及在实验室中使用黄金标准的运动捕获系统，该系统昂贵且无法广泛使用。我们开发了Smart-Cover，这是一个自动系统，可提供实时可视化和有关坐姿的信息。座压传感器（SPS）使用Velostat，导电织物和泡沫材料制成，可收集座椅表面内的压力分布信息。从10位健康的年轻受试者中收集数据，每个受试者坐30分钟，然后使用物联网（IoT）传输到云服务器。基于规则的分类器用于向用户及时通知就座时间和不对称程度。开发了一个新的终端设备应用程序以显示坐姿平衡。基于刻度盘的显示屏显示不对称程度，主动和静态就座情况以及每日摘要得分。我们的系统是用户友好，便宜，自动和定量的方法，用于实时评估姿势，它具有提供有关坐姿行为的定量信息的能力。结果表明，该系统可用于坐姿的客观监测，具有医疗和社会效益。Smart-Cover可以通过监测压力区域和就坐时的平衡来支持患者康复期间的管理。此外，它还为家庭，学校和办公室的用户提供了改善坐姿的方法。