DeskViz

A simple Python script to visualize standing desk usage data, plus a shell script to log desk height from a Linak standing desk.

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• matplotlib
• linak-controller (for logging)

pip install matplotlib

Data Collection

The desk.sh script controls the desk and logs height data:

./desk.sh stand    # Move desk to standing position
./desk.sh sit      # Move desk to sitting position
./desk.sh status   # Log current height to CSV (or 0mm if screen is locked)

By default, data is logged to ~/desk.csv. Use -f to specify a different file:

./desk.sh -f /path/to/data.csv status

Office Detection

The script only logs data when you're at your office desk. It detects this by checking for a specific USB ethernet adapter via its MAC address:

OFFICE_ETH_MAC="20:7b:d2:97:e4:74"

To configure for your setup:

1. Connect your office USB ethernet/dock
2. Find its MAC address:
   • Linux: ip link
   • macOS: ifconfig
3. Update OFFICE_ETH_MAC in desk.sh

This works cross-platform (Linux and macOS) and prevents logging when working from home or elsewhere.

Additionally, when the screen is locked, the script logs an "away" state (0mm) instead of the actual desk height. Screen lock is detected via DBus on Linux (GNOME, KDE, etc.) and Quartz on macOS.

Automated Logging (Linux)

Use a systemd user timer to run desk.sh status periodically.

1. Create the service file (~/.config/systemd/user/desk-status.service):

[Unit]
Description=Log desk height to CSV

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=%h/bin/desk status

2. Create the timer file (~/.config/systemd/user/desk-status.timer):

[Unit]
Description=Log desk height every 10 minutes

[Timer]
OnBootSec=1min
OnUnitActiveSec=10min

[Install]
WantedBy=timers.target

3. Enable and start the timer:

systemctl --user daemon-reload
systemctl --user enable --now desk-status.timer

4. Check status:

systemctl --user status desk-status.timer
systemctl --user list-timers

5. Disable the timer:

systemctl --user disable --now desk-status.timer

Note: The service assumes desk.sh is symlinked to ~/bin/desk. Adjust the ExecStart path if your setup differs.

Automated Logging (macOS)

Use launchd to run desk.sh status periodically. Create ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.desk-status.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.user.desk-status</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/bin/bash</string>
        <string>-c</string>
        <string>$HOME/bin/desk status</string>
    </array>
    <key>StartInterval</key>
    <integer>600</integer>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Enable: launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.desk-status.plist

Disable: launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.user.desk-status.plist

Visualization

Run the visualization:

python3 visualize_desk.py                    # Uses ~/desk.csv
python3 visualize_desk.py /path/to/data.csv  # Custom CSV path

The script outputs:

• Summary statistics to the terminal
• <filename>_visualization.png (e.g., desk_visualization.png)

CSV Format

The CSV file should have the following format:

timestamp,height_mm
2026-01-06T13:50:38+01:00,1120
2026-01-06T14:03:06+01:00,740

• timestamp: ISO 8601 datetime
• height_mm: Desk height in millimeters (>=900mm = standing, <900mm = sitting, 0mm = away/screen locked)

Example Output

The visualization shows:

• Top: Daily comparison of standing vs sitting time (minutes)
• Bottom: Timeline view of each day showing standing (green), sitting (red), and away/locked (gray) periods