Computer displays being low is fine. The eyes and head are evolved for looking downward, and the lower part of the field of view makes both convergence and focusing on nearby objects easier.
People just need to remember that they can swivel their eyes without rotating their whole head/neck downward. You want to sit in a non-slouching position, with neck and head straight. The spine is quite good at supporting the weight of the head when the torso and head are straight. But holding up a tilted head for a long time puts a lot of static strain on neck muscles.
Personally I would recommend putting the top of the display at least slightly below eye level, pushing the display as far away as is comfortable (the further away, the less work the eye muscles have to do), and tilting the display backwards at the top so the center of the display points at the face.
Putting the display very high up in the field of view (like the article author’s pictured setup) encourages slouching and tilting the head back.
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If you hold your elbows at a right-angle, your keyboard needs to be just below your hands in order to keep your wrists straight. You want to aim to hover, not rest at an awkward, upwards angle.
Holding the elbows at a right angle is not something to prioritize. It’s fine, if the furniture allows, but if not, allow the elbows to be at whatever angle they need, and highly prioritize the wrists. IMO the most important RSI-preventing step to take is positioning/orienting the keyboard so that the wrists are not extended or flexed while typing.
[watch out for a] wrist-breaking upwards slope. I don’t know why exactly this is (perhaps it’s inherited from mechanical typewriters needing their keys in the correct place), but most keyboards slope upwards, causing your wrists to bend as you type.
An upward-at-the-back tilt to the keyboard is not just okay, but is strictly necessary when using a tall desk and low chair. If you use a down-at-the-back tilted keyboard with a high desk, the wrists will end up flexed, which is a really bad idea. The appropriate front/back tilt of the keyboard depends entirely on the height of the keyboard relative to the torso (which determines the orientation of the forearms).
If the desk can be lowered or (even better) if a tall saddle-type stool can be used or if the typist can stand up, then letting the elbows be relaxed (more than a right angle is probably ideal) is also fine. When the desk is low relative to the torso, then the tilt of the keyboard must be adjusted to match the orientation of the forearms.
Dramatically “tenting” a split keyboard (aggressively tilting the two halves upward toward the center) will make a big reduction in static hand/arm/shoulder strain required. Separating and rotating the two halves are relatively minor by comparison.
Finally: the author of this article puts the keyboard very far from the edge of the desk, meaning that his arms are going to be reaching far forward. This puts a lot of strain on the shoulders. Pull the keyboard closer, so that the upper arms hang straight down, with elbows close to the body.
Comments
Computer displays being low is fine. The eyes and head are evolved for looking downward, and the lower part of the field of view makes both convergence and focusing on nearby objects easier.
People just need to remember that they can swivel their eyes without rotating their whole head/neck downward. You want to sit in a non-slouching position, with neck and head straight. The spine is quite good at supporting the weight of the head when the torso and head are straight. But holding up a tilted head for a long time puts a lot of static strain on neck muscles.
Personally I would recommend putting the top of the display at least slightly below eye level, pushing the display as far away as is comfortable (the further away, the less work the eye muscles have to do), and tilting the display backwards at the top so the center of the display points at the face.
Putting the display very high up in the field of view (like the article author’s pictured setup) encourages slouching and tilting the head back.
* * *
Holding the elbows at a right angle is not something to prioritize. It’s fine, if the furniture allows, but if not, allow the elbows to be at whatever angle they need, and highly prioritize the wrists. IMO the most important RSI-preventing step to take is positioning/orienting the keyboard so that the wrists are not extended or flexed while typing.
An upward-at-the-back tilt to the keyboard is not just okay, but is strictly necessary when using a tall desk and low chair. If you use a down-at-the-back tilted keyboard with a high desk, the wrists will end up flexed, which is a really bad idea. The appropriate front/back tilt of the keyboard depends entirely on the height of the keyboard relative to the torso (which determines the orientation of the forearms).
If the desk can be lowered or (even better) if a tall saddle-type stool can be used or if the typist can stand up, then letting the elbows be relaxed (more than a right angle is probably ideal) is also fine. When the desk is low relative to the torso, then the tilt of the keyboard must be adjusted to match the orientation of the forearms.
Dramatically “tenting” a split keyboard (aggressively tilting the two halves upward toward the center) will make a big reduction in static hand/arm/shoulder strain required. Separating and rotating the two halves are relatively minor by comparison.
Finally: the author of this article puts the keyboard very far from the edge of the desk, meaning that his arms are going to be reaching far forward. This puts a lot of strain on the shoulders. Pull the keyboard closer, so that the upper arms hang straight down, with elbows close to the body.