What technological event primarily enabled the true explosion in posture monitoring capabilities beyond rudimentary alerts?
The miniaturization and increasing sophistication of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU).
The turning point for genuine posture monitoring, moving beyond basic alerting devices, coincided directly with advancements in micro-electronics. The widespread availability and refinement of the Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) allowed developers to transition from bulky, position-dependent switches to highly sophisticated micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). This sensor technology provided the necessary fidelity, combining gyroscopes and accelerometers to accurately capture orientation and rate of change in 3D space. This technological capability is what differentiated rudimentary alerts, often hampered by low fidelity, from genuine monitoring tools capable of tracking complex body kinematics.
