The application is for the prevention of CVS, RSI and other problems associated with the uninterrupted use of visual display units and input devices such as mice and keyboards. Every 20 minutes the application will display the notification screen and let you know that it is time to take a short break. If you lock your workstation or the screen saver comes on for longer than 2 minutes then it will re-set the timer. There is also an option to pause StrainGuard for a given number of minutes, which is ideal if you are making a presentation. The application runs in the background and puts an icon in your system tray.