PostureGuard is a lightweight, real-time desktop application designed to help you maintain healthy posture while working at your computer.

It acts as a private "digital health coach" that runs in the background. By using your webcam and Computer Vision, it establishes a baseline for your correct sitting position and alerts you if you slouch or drop your head for a sustained period.

Note: This "Lite" version is specifically optimized for Python 3.13+ compatibility, removing heavy dependencies like MediaPipe in favor of efficient OpenCV Haar Cascades.

• Real-Time Monitoring: Uses OpenCV face detection to track vertical head movement at 30 FPS.
• Privacy Focused: All processing happens locally on your CPU. No images or video are ever sent to the cloud.
• Adaptive Calibration: "One-click" calibration allows the system to learn your specific desk setup and height.
• Smart Alerts:
  • Visual Status: On-screen text changes from Green (Good) to Red (Slouching).
  • Desktop Notifications: Native system notifications (Windows/Mac/Linux) pop up if you ignore bad posture for too long.
• Jitter Smoothing: Includes a buffer system to prevent false alarms from tiny movements.

PostureGuard/
│
├── main.py                 # Entry point: GUI, Event Loop, and Alert Logic
├── posture_detector.py     # Core Logic: OpenCV Face Detection & Math
├── requirements.txt        # List of dependencies
└── README.md               # Documentation

• Python 3.10 or higher (Fully compatible with Python 3.13)
• A webcam

Download this project folder to your local machine.

Open your terminal in the project folder:

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv

# Activate it (Windows)
.venv\Scripts\activate

# Activate it (Mac/Linux)
source .venv/bin/activate

Install the required libraries (OpenCV, Pillow, Plyer, Numpy):

pip install -r requirements.txt

1. Run the Application:

python main.py

2. Position Yourself: Sit comfortably in your chair. Ensure your webcam can see your face. You should see a Green Box drawn around your face.
3. Calibrate: Sit up straight in your ideal "healthy" posture. Click the "Sit Straight & Calibrate" button.

• What happens? The system records your face's Y-coordinate (height) and draws a yellow "Limit Line" below your chin.

4. Work: Minimize the window or leave it open.

• If you slouch (your face drops below the yellow line) for more than 3 seconds, the status will turn RED and you will receive a system notification.

You can tweak the sensitivity by editing main.py:

• Make it stricter: Decrease self.slouch_threshold (default is 40 pixels).

self.slouch_threshold = 25  # Alerts with smaller movements

• Change Alert Timing: Edit self.TIME_TO_ALERT (default is 50 frames).

self.TIME_TO_ALERT = 90     # Wait ~3 seconds before alerting

1. "Calibration Failed: No face detected"

• Ensure your room is well-lit.
• Remove obstructions (masks, hands) from your face.
• Make sure no other app (Zoom, Teams) is using the webcam.

2. False Alarms (Alerting when I'm straight)

• Re-calibrate! If you shifted your chair or moved your laptop, your "baseline" is wrong. Click "Calibrate" again.

3. Application crashes immediately

• Ensure you have installed the requirements: pip install -r requirements.txt.

This project is open-source and free to use for personal health and educational purposes. LICENSE

PostureGuard • Created by Dharm Patel