Weekly Innovation: Get Moving, While Seated At Your Desk

By Allie Caren

Published July 23, 2014 at 3:50 PM EDT

Cubii is a Kickstarter project that allows users to exercise — elliptical style — while sitting at their desk at work.

This post is part of our Weekly Innovation series, in which we explore an interesting idea, design or product that you may not have heard of yet. Do you have an innovation to share? Use this quick form.

We've all seen the headlines: Sitting too much can shorten your life.

Sitting is taking over many Americans' lives. In fact, Americans are sitting for an average of 13 hours a day, according to a survey conducted by Ergotron.

Arnav Dalmia felt the effects of the sedentary life when he graduated last year from the University of Chicago and got an office job in a large, corporate setting.

He tried to get a treadmill desk or a standing desk, but it was too expensive and seemed to be a very involved process, he says. So, he developed Cubii.

The device is just like any regular, upright elliptical you'd see at the gym, only you're not standing, your arms aren't actively engaged, and it fits under your desk at work.

Dalmia says that with Cubii, "motion becomes unconscious."

Healthy blood circulation helps with focus throughout the day, says Dalmia, and he sees it as one of Cubii's top benefits.

Dalmia says Cubii makes minimal noise — your co-worker next to you shouldn't be able to hear it. It is made from a combination of steel, aluminum and plastic.

It also connects to an app on your smartphone via Bluetooth. It records how long and how "far" you've traveled, and how many calories you've burned. It can also link to other fitness trackers and wearables you already have synced up to your phone, like a Nike+ FuelBand SE or a Fitbit.

Cubii started as a project on Kickstarter, and just recently met its $80,000 goal. The retail price for a Cubii is $350, though there is a Kickstarter reduced price of $299.

Dalmia says that whether you use a standing desk or a feet-only elliptical like his — all of these ideas address the same problem.

"It's just a matter of what suits you better," he says. "I think this trend of workplace fitness is kind of really growing."

"People recognize the problems," Dalmia says. "The dynamics of the model workplace are changing."

Cubii's Kickstarter project officially ends Monday. As of Wednesday, it has over $88,000 in pledges.

Allie Caren is a digital news intern at NPR, where she writes about tech-related news and innovations. Follow Allie on Twitter at @alLISTENc.