China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Computer Use
Published in Céline McKeown, Office Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2018
As screen height and keyboard dimensions have been identified as being problematic, these aspects have to be tackled if extended use is envisaged. The aim should be to enable the user to adopt an appropriate posture, such as that outlined in Chapter 1. There are two easy ways of tackling this: either by providing a docking station or by providing an external keyboard and mouse. If using a docking station, the user places the laptop into a housing that connects the laptop directly to an external screen, keyboard, and mouse. Having done so, the user can adjust their sitting position relative to the screen and keyboard using an adjustable chair. The alternative is simply to attach an external mouse and keyboard to the laptop, and then raise the laptop up on a platform so that the screen is presented at a suitable height. Again, users should adjust their posture so that they are sitting comfortably. It would be expected that working in this manner will lead to a reduction in mechanical load on the neck in conjunction with an improvement in productivity and reported comfort levels.
Computer Use
Published in Céline McKeown, Office Ergonomics, 2007
As screen height and keyboard dimensions have been identified as being problematic, these aspects have to be tackled if extended use is envisaged. The aim should be to enable the user to adopt an appropriate posture, such as that outlined in chapter 1. There are two easy ways of tackling this: either by providing a docking station, or, by providing an external keyboard and mouse. If using a docking station, the user places the laptop into a housing that connects the laptop directly to an external screen, keyboard, and mouse. Having done so, the user can adjust the sitting position relative to the screen and keyboard using an adjustable chair. Heasman et al. (2000) have shown that the use of a docking station did make a positive difference in terms of reducing complaints of discomfort. The alternative is simply to attach an external mouse and keyboard to the laptop and then raise the laptop up on a platform so that the screen is presented at a suitable height. Again, users should adjust their posture so that they are sitting comfortably. Separate mice are recommended for use with laptops given the poor design of a number of laptop cursor controls. Some have a pointing stick, as previously described. Others have touchpads which, although larger, tend to be operated by one fingertip in a bid to avoid sending out “confusing” commands that result in the cursor jumping to a part of the screen that was not intended. A standard mouse shares the workload out over a larger portion of the hand which will be less fatiguing for the limb concerned. Of course, providing laptops with detachable keyboards would allow the screen to be raised on a platform leaving the keyboard on the worksurface. Some office furniture manufacturers provide stands on which the whole laptop can be located so that the screen is raised. However, raising the screen when it is still attached to the keyboard simply raises the keyboard also, causing some naive users to work with their arms raised as they depress the keys, unless they have been specificallly advised to use a peripheral keyboard.
Energy savings and usability of zero-client computing in office settings
Published in Intelligent Buildings International, 2020
Amanda Farthing, M. Rois Langner, Kim Trenbath
Zero client: A small device that is used to connect to a personal desktop on a virtual machine in order to carry out computing tasks. This connection generally occurs using either a remote desktop protocol or personal computer over internet protocol. The zero client device has no local storage, memory, or processing ability. For an end-user in the workplace, it serves as a docking station for a network cable, mouse, keyboard, external monitors, and other peripherals.