Researchers created a human-sized dummy to show what prolonged time in an office and hours at a desk does to the body.



In a new report, “The Work Colleague of The Future,” author and futurist William Higham explains how certain facets of our work life could be ruining our health, like hunching over a desk all day and not taking enough time to walk outside. To drive the point home, he and the other researchers created a life-sized model named “Emma” who suffers from all the health concerns they warn about.



Emma has a permanently bent back, varicose veins, red eyes from staring at a screen for hours, and more nose hair because of poor air quality. Her poor health reflects the thousands of people from France, Germany and the UK who participated in the report’s study, many of whom said they already suffered from sore eyes, sore backs, and headaches.



“Unless we make radical changes to our working lives, such as moving more, addressing our posture at our desks, taking regular walking breaks or considering improving our work station set up, our offices are going to make us very sick.” Higham said.



He also said that employers can be doing a lot more to improve the work environment like designing more spaces to take breaks in, as well as encourage more walking and talking around the office.