Chair, monitors, desk. Tried and true, but what if fuck that? This is another set of projects I’ve always wanted to try out.
Over the last little while I’ve been experimenting with the ergonomics of what I’ll call ‘desk alternatives’. There’s companies out there like Ergoquest that make commercial versions of almost exactly what I’ve done here, but I thought it would be more fun (and much cheaper) to build something.
I wanted to test out both being reclined and being completely horizontal. Very early on I figured out that any process beyond just sitting down made these arrangements too cumbersome to be useful. So no slide out keyboard trays, no motorized arms, none of that.
First I went for the easy one, a monitor suspended over the twin bed in a spare bedroom. Steel plate, square tubing, and a monitor arm yielded this:
Lots of space to shift around to stay comfortable for long periods.
Easy to get into. Just sit on the bed and roll in.
There’s nothing behind the screen but a ceiling, and you don’t move your head much, so watching videos is a pleasantly immersive experience.
Cons:
The most ergonomic place for a keyboard WOULD be in my lap, but it turns out that, while you’re laying down, your lap is your groin. So I was trying to balance a keyboard on my crotch. That is not comfortable.
There isn’t a great place for a second screen with the way I did this, which for my workflows is important.
My brain tries real hard to shut off while I’m laying down because it’s been conditioned to do this for my entire life. This makes doing actual work in this position challenging, though I’m sure that could be overcome with practice.
Laying down and looking straight up means no drinks/snacks. You could set up a camel pack but I’m not quite ready for THAT future yet.
Potential Improvements
Moving the arm to the other side of the bed, and building a second one, would allow me to include a second screen below the first one.
A set of foam arm rests at maybe a 60* angle would might give me a spot for a split keyboard and a trackball, but would complicate the onboarding process so isn’t a great solution either in that regard.
With the difficulties I had focusing in this position, and since I already spend 8 hours a day laying down, I’m not planning on pursuing this any further.
Next I went for a more traditional option: a recliner and a screen directly in front of my eyeballs.
The arm rests were the first thing to go, then I didn’t need to move the screens out of the way to sit down.
Pros:
There’s plenty of leg space that it’s about like getting into a sports car, just sit and pivot.
The mouse pad is out of the way and easily accessible.
Keyboard rests comfortably on my thighs.
Partially vertical = easy snacks.
Much easier to focus reclined than it was in a horizontal position.
Locating the second monitor was simple and effective.
Cons:
I’ve been messing with back pillows and head rests but haven’t got it quite right yet. This could probably be solved with a better recliner, but those don’t necessarily have removable arms.
Not quite as flexible as far as shifting into different positions. Within about 30 minutes I find myself wanting to move with nowhere to go. Larger screens positioned further away could help this in a slightly different chair.
Potential Improvements
If the entire chair could spin, getting in and out would be the same as sitting at a desk.
Larger screens further way could potentially add more seating flexibility.
Haven’t really reached any solid conclusions on either setup yet, though this does help showcase why traditional or sit/stand desks have stuck around for so long.
For the bed one, how about those keyboards that are split in two one for each hand, and have them in a folding hinge so you can fold up when not in use and when in use they’re at your sides
Or possibly like an armrest deal where you can angle them up
I’ve got an electric sit/stand desk that I’ve been using for a good while. It’s great, especially for making 1/2" adjustments throughout the day.
I sort of hamstrung myself, though, running DP cables between a laptop on the desk and a tower on the floor to a KVM. So I haven’t used the standing feature since I added the KVM a few months ago. I even have brand new, longer DP cables in the stash. . .
I’m a huge fan of split keyboards, but when it comes to fitting the keyboard and a pointing device into a single armrest-ish thing I haven’t really found the right solution yet. The biggest hang up for me is, even if you get the position just right, I’m wanting to move stuff in an hour.
One of my biggest disappointments was the first time I mounted a keyboard to a chair. I feel like if you could really get that right you’d be a popular person very quickly.
That concept is still rolling around in my head, though, so maybe an idea will make itself known eventually.
I have (had) really bad knees. I sat in a reclining easy chair for several years. Over time that strained my back and I believe caused arthritis in my lower back. Be careful with the semi-reclined sitting position. Perhaps talk to a physiotherapist to see if it good for long periods of use.
The bed option could be worked around with using a handheld keyboard with a built-in trackpad, considering many grew up during the Sharp Sidekick and Blackberry era such a solution is workable with a decent ability for reasonable word per minute typing rate. If you’re into AI/machine learning, another option is do mouse input/control using a webcam by tracking eye movement, blink once to select and double blink to click
From my own not a desk experience, I always found placing a laptop on a three ring binder to provide just the right angle for work without buying an unnecessary lapdesk.
I experimented with eye tracking a couple years ago, at the time they hadn’t figured out how to smooth out your eye jitters to decide what you’re looking at.
Nope. We are fat and sedentary already. This is gonna make it worse. See also bed sores (for the truly bedridden).
I also doze off quick already. This will facilitate that quicker. The weird flip side is, sleeping, when you really want it, gets harder because your brain is convinced that you are in a “work environment” which also makes random sleep dozing even worse, because you were tired the night before because you couldnt sleep well. Now thats gonna be a nasty cycle. One should keep the bed sacred and only use it for fucking and sleeping.
You know what, lets improve your setup more. Set an option to administer intravenous medicine to wake you up and help you sleep for better productivity. Im sure all those medicine wont be addictive.
I was looking at the bed setup and thinking of some horrible distopian future I may have seen in a movie. Get a bunch of kids, get them hooked on doing your dirty coding work in order to survive until their body and brains ability to do anything else atrophies… but then I thought… f**k, we’re already there.
I read a book once where everyone had their teeth removed because all they ate was government-issued nutrient paste. Think about it every time I use it
I moved my PC onto my half height file cabinet, I have the full range of the desk back but now my waterfall of cables has been laid bare for all to see
Also added an angled block to maybe improve trackball comfort, but I can’t tell yet. Fell asleep while testing this out last night so we’re off to a great start.
Wow, thanks for sharing your unusual and cheap ideas! I would try to play something while being horizontal; it is the most desired position. Moreover, I have gotten back pains lately because of sitting a lot in my chair, which wasn’t designed for gaming. However, I am thinking of buying some good gaming chairs from https://eurekaergonomic.com/gaming-desk/ soon. Hope it will make the process even more pleasing. But I wonder if laying isn’t a challenging position for focusing? Whenever I try to do something laying, like reading a book or watching something, I get distracted and want to sleep. I think the same would happen if I tried playing lying on a bed.
