Gadget Watch: The bionic chair

10:20 16 October 2008

The majority of today's office furniture is dull, lifeless and uncomfortable but now American manufacturers Herman Miller are set to change that with the Embody.

Six years in the making, the Embody sets new standards for furniture and is the world's first bionic chair.

Crafted in secret, under the code-name of Stockholm this has been a multi-million dollar project that could well revolutionise the way working men and women not only sit but feel too.

Revolutionary

The Embody will go on sale in the UK on October 21 2008 for roughly 1,250 and has been designed to improve the health of its owner, not just to make them comfortable, through the science of dynamic surface pressure engineering.

Tracking the movements of whoever takes a seat within it, the chair moulds to encourage the sitter to straighten their posture and find a position where the head is placed above the pelvis as opposed to too far forward or back.

The chair also varies the tidal volume, increasing the flow of air through the back panels and in turn increasing the sitter's oxygen. The idea behind this is that the more oxygen available to a human, the more clearly they think.

With back pain the number one reason for absenteeism from the workplace after the common cold and responsible for cited in 21% of sick days it is clear that this is major issue.

The experts speak

Herman Miller's research has supported their claims that the Embody could change lives and keep staff working for longer in a more effective manner.

Eco friendly The gizmos helping to save our planet.

Their study reveals that whether at home or in an office, the average office worker is likely to spend around 93 % of their time on their behinds and 75% of that leaning forward, spines unsupported.

Additionally 50% of the desk-bound population use a work chair that neither fits them or supports all the movements and motions made during an average working day.

The chair's co-designer Jeff Weber said: "You really have to experience the chair to appreciate the benefits, it is an evolutionary leap for chairs but it reflects a need - to respond to the worst-case conditions that some people are now working in all day at their desks. Taking the chair beyond this would be a daunting challenge."