Esports and Ergonomics Pt. 1: How kinesiology students are leveling up our posture
OTSU Esports continues to grow and have an impact beyond the gaming community, proving that the program is a catalyst for professional growth and learning opportunities beyond the classroom.
On Tuesday February 12, our esports folks hosted a group of fourth year kinesiology students who gave some of our players a lesson on ergonomics as part of their program’s capstone project—basically, their final boss before graduating. They had to find an audience and create a kinesiology initiative for them, and we’re excited they thought of us!
The group, comprised of Jessica King, Caitlin Gaudet, Talia Ciampo, Riley Brunton and Evan Shillabeer, presented to the OTSU Esports’ Overwatch 2 team, giving them pointers on how to correct their posture so that students could learn how to prevent future aches and pains due to improper posture, as well as conducted a survey to collect data for the final report.
We caught up with Jessica to talk about their capstone project and why ergonomics is so close to their heart. Jessica is a fourth year kinesiology student whose hometown is Stittsville, Ontario. Outside of school she enjoys spending time outdoors, going fishing, skiing, snowmobiling, or skating.
OTSU: Hi Jessica! OK, let’s start with ergonomics: what is it and why is it and why do you love it?
JESSICA KING: Ergonomics is an applied science that focuses on the design and arrangement of a workspace so that people can use the space with efficiency and safety. Essentially, the main goal is to fit the job to the worker to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal injuries. I find ergonomics interesting because so many people don't realize that a simple change has a profound ability to reduce injuries. Kinesiology helps people to prevent or recover from injuries, and when I graduate, ergonomics is a broad field that can be applied to any job or activity.
OTSU: What made you decide to focus on computer use?
JK: As students, we feel the literal pain of sitting in front of computers for a long time each day. So, we assumed that other students are in a similar situation, especially the OTSU Esports team. Not only are they students but their extracurricular activity also requires them to be at a computer! Our studies taught us many ways to adjust and improve a work environment, so we thought, ‘hey, why not inform the esports team how to reduce musculoskeletal injuries and encourage them to make some changes?’ From there, we would be able to see the effectiveness of these changes.
OTSU: I guess that leads us to ask, what’s wrong with people’s posture? What are some of the worst culprits?
JK: In a word: posture! And there are a few things that affect it. Monitor height can make a huge impact. Ideally your monitor’s top two thirds should be at eye level. If the monitor is too high, people look up, putting the neck into extension, and if it’s too low, they will look down, putting the neck into a flexed position. The monitor should be arms length away to avoid hunching forward to see better.
Chair position is also very important. Your chair should have lumbar support and you should be seated upright, shoulders relaxed, elbows supported, and feet flat on the floor. Also, leave a two to three inch space between the chair and the back of your knees to avoid any nerve impingement.
Lastly, proper positioning of the mouse and the keyboard can prevent wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries. The mouse should be beside the keyboard and close enough to the body so the shoulder remains relaxed. The keyboard should be centered to the torso, close to the body with forearms parallel to the ground.
OTSU: So how did the idea come about to do this presentation for the OTSU Esports folks?
JK: We decided on the idea of creating our initiative around ergonomics, but we still needed to choose a population to work with. It was Riley who had the great idea to contact the esports team. Since they spend more time online than most other students, they seemed like the perfect group to work with for an ergonomics initiative. From there we tailored our project around economics for an esports player.
OTSU: Your group did a survey of the players? Tell us a little about that and the follow up you have planned afterward.
JK: We contacted Sinthu, [the OTSU’s Esports Coordinator] and he thought it was a great idea. We worked with the Overwatch 2 team where we showed them a quick presentation introducing ergonomics, the adjustments that can be made to the monitor, chair and mouse/keyboard and explained the long-term risks of poor office ergonomics and how these changes can benefit them specifically. Afterwards, we conducted a survey asking questions about their amount for screen time and if/how often they experience pain after prolonged studying/gaming. We encouraged them to make these changes and to reach out to us if they had questions or needed assistance. After giving them some time to make these adjustments, we’ll conduct a follow-up survey to determine if these changes made a positive impact in reducing some of the musculoskeletal pain they have been experiencing. And we’ll be presenting the findings in our capstone presentation and report to our professor.
Stay tuned for the second half of this story next week, where we’ll interview a player from the esports team to get their perspective!
