Tags: ergonomics, sustainability, USA
At first glance, the annual North American ErgoExpo is a showcase for the latest in ergonomic office furniture: space age seating, curvy keyboards and mice that are basically an extension of your hand – all designed to help us feel good and be more productive. But this year, a trend topic was incorporating Ergonomics, Health & Safety into the broader concept of Sustainability. Leading edge companies that are already implementing green practices such as energy saving, recycling, and responsible purchasing as well as ergonomics are now asking “What about the bigger picture – combining these elements to create a Sustainable Enterprise?”
While the concept of Sustainability is well entrenched in parts of Europe, North American organizations are now beginning to engage in an effort to build truly sustainable organizations– combining areas of environment, health & safety, energy, social responsibility and financial goals into a single effort that goes beyond green. In the building sector, companies are looking at how the tenants of a building and their comfort, wellbeing and productivity are actually increasing the environmental performance of the building itself, which is why the LEED system for building design now offers credits for ergonomics as part of the overall design.
How is your company moving from Green to Sustainable?
Look for more posts from me on sustainability. In the meantime you can find more about ErgoExpo at www.ergoexpo.com
Tags: Green IT, IT products, LCD display, USA
The annual “meeting of the minds” in the display industry will meet next week to discuss industry trends, analyze market opportunities and forecast the future of the display and TV business around the world. The annual Display Search US Flat Panel Display Conference offers manufacturers, channel partners and industry analysts the chance to explore current and future markets for display products. TCO will be there and be assured, there will be plenty of talk about Green IT solutions. Look for my blog posts direct from the conference. For more information log onto www.displaysearch.com
Tags: CES, Green IT, ICT products, USA
ust back from the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Mobility, social media and eco-friendliness were key themes among many of the product lines on show.
Of particular note was the number of tablet PCs that were creating a lot of attention – offering consumers a more powerful PC than a netbook, but more versatility than a larger sized notebook. Touch screens were also a popular trend, with some netbooks featuring multi-touch technology allowing for maximum flexibility for the user to manipulate the image on the screen. Social media applications were everywhere, with facebook- and twitter-friendly technologies gaining a lot of attention. Microsoft and HP even organized a spontaneous “Tweet and Greet” event on the show floor, relying exclusviely on the social network to spread the word and gather attendees.
Environmental features continue to be a big story in consumer electronics. Energy efficient LED backlit TVs and Notebooks are growing in poularity and several products featured motion sensor technologies that set the screen into sleep mode once the user left the room, and even a TV that can detect whether a viewer is or doing another activity, and adjusting the brightness of the TV automatically.
Overall, industry reps we talked to at CES are looking to these new technologies to help drive the economic recovery. Click here for more product reviews and news from CES.
Tags: ergonomics, Human factors, USA
For those of you interested in all things ergonomic and human-factors related, I can highly recommend www.ergoweb.com. It’s a good source for product news, regulatory updates and offers discussion boards for current topics in ergonomics and workplace design.
… and this week they are publishing an interview with me about the importance of ergonomics and green in combination. Check it out at www.ergoweb.com
Tags: computer display, LCD display, monitor, USA
One real highlight this year was the Society for Information Display conference in San Antonio, USA. For all of us display fanatics this conference is the place to be when it comes to new innovations and product development. Some very interesting new products were all those with electronic ink which are readable in daylight. Several new OLED displays where also on show, some thin as paper, still with excellent colour, brightness and response time. Just take a look at this driver’s license, with an OLED display from Samsung, showing a film of the head of the person rotating instead of a static photo.
TCO’s motion blur study
Also at SID, a TCO funded user study on motion blur was presented. The purpose of the study was to identify a level of motion blur (blur created by moving images on a screen) that is comfortable for the average user. The results will be the base for a new standard for motion blur in the next revision of TCO Certified displays. More information at ww.tcodevelopment.com
Tags: design, sustainability, USA
This week I was speaking at the International Symposium for Sustainable Systems and Technology in Tempe, Arizona http://www.ieee-issst.org/ and was impressed to see the innovative approach to sustainability learning at Arizona State University, who has opened USA’s first School of Sustainability and celebrated their first graduates earlier this month, with President Obama in attendance.
ASU President, Michael Crow described the School’s multidisciplinary approach to sustainability, with a focus on real outcomes. A clearer connection between science, engineeering and social science is a priority as sustainability graduates are encouraged to look closer at human behavior and intergenerational design. http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu/
