3 Days With a Posture-Correcting Wearable Gadget

I have poor posture — a habit that began long before I sat behind a computer for eight hours each day. I usually blame it on my tallness, but research suggests poor posture and the back pain it causes is much more widespread.

Back pain is a leading reason for doctor's visits, just behind the common cold. Studies find that standing tall contributes to confidence and attractiveness, as social psychologist Amy Cuddy reveals in her TED Talk

So when I heard about a new wearable gadget called LUMOback that vibrates when you slouch, I only wished it had arrived a bit earlier — perhaps puberty, when "stand up straight" was so common a refrain in my house that we shortened it to the code word "watermelon." Now, of course, old habits die hard Read more...