The Quality of Life Technology Foundry at Carnegie Mellon University is showing Lean&Zoom, a simple application aimed to reduce eye and posture problems caused by daily computer use. It takes advantage of a typically unutilized input device, the built-in camera, to automatically magnify a computer screen in response to a user’s body movement.

The camera calibrates by taking a picture of a user at their normal viewing distance, then another picture at their preferred “lean in” distance. After that, a lean forward will magnify any on-screen content, with a zoom ratio directly proportional to the extent of your lean. Pulling back will zoom it out, and regular functions like arrow-key navigation and mouse tracking continue to work no matter the degree of zoom. The demo felt surprisingly natural and almost obvious, like this should have been a part of computing all along.

Lean&Zoom officially launched only yesterday, but QoLT Foundry director Curt Stone said they’re speaking with companies about potential partnerships for Lean&Zoom in mobile devices, automotive navigation, and health and fitness.