Adjustments of posture and viewing parameters of the eye to changes in the screen height of the visual display terminal

To understand the motions caused by the interaction among the different body parts, adjustments of both eye position and body posture to screen height settings of 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120cm were determined in 10 subjects. The subjects engaged in a non-keyboard, interactive computer game requiring constant visual monitoring. Changes in body positions were determined by video image analysis for the posture parameters and by video frame analysis for the eye parameters. Analysis of variance and correlation analysis showed that neck angle, thoracic bending and vertical eye position were significantly affected by changes in the screen height of the VDT. The study of the interrelationship of eye position and body posture suggested that changes in body positions served to complement the eye position in attaining a better view of the visual target. Viewing angle was observed to be decided mainly by inclination of the neck and the eye. Thoracic bending was also noted to contribute in setting the viewing angle, although to a lesser extent. On the other hand, viewing distance and trunk inclination showed significant correlation.