Most office workers know that sitting still in an office chair for 8 hours every day can have some pretty serious negative side effects.  Aside from the obvious ones, like bad circulation from lack of exercise, deteriorating mental focus, and the occasional desire to go jump off a bridge, many people (myself included) also develop some wacky posture as a result of excessive chair slouching.
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Herman Millers new Embody office chair may very well be the cutting edge of technology in terms of comfort and ergonomics, but if for some reason you are looking for a chair that can give you the comforting feeling of “being held in someone’s arms”, look no further than this prototype Leopard chair from Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd.

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After 6 years and millions of dollars of R&D, Herman Millers highly-anticipated new office chair, the Embody, is finally hitting the market much to the delight of office ninjas around the country.

The Embody builds upon the massive success of its predecessor, the Aeron ergonomic desk chair, which 14 years ago began allowing workaholics to spend entire weekends sitting at their desks without developing serious back injuries.

The chair, which was designed by the late Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber, features a 4 layer seat cushion, one of which has 93 interconnected plastic hexagon discs, or “pixels”, which move independently as the chairs users shift their weight around.

The Embody comes in 13 colors and three finishes, and should be available starting early 2009 for a measly $1595.

[Fortune via Dvice

Ok so yesterday I said that I wouldn’t trade my Herman Miller Aeron chair for anything, but if the Smartchair ever gets made I might change my mind.  The chair comes with a dozen embedded sensors, an adjustable seating pad, a headrest that adjusts to your movement, and touch screen control for manual adjustments…perfect for those of us who have been dreaming of decorating our cubicle like a spaceship.

Uberreview

It was brought to my attention that last week marked the 40th birthday of the cubicle.  I’m not celebrating, obviously. While it is difficult to rejoice over a creation eventually lamented by its own inventor, Robert Propst, who called it a contribution to “monolithic insanity, I did find myself excited about discovering that in 2001 Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, teamed up with design firm IDEO to create the “ideal cubicle”. The result was a cube I could only hope to be placed in sometime. Ditching the conventional office furniture normally stuffed into our cubes, Adams created a modern looking work space built around the basic needs of the employee, to “eat, sleep,[and] avoid the boss”. Aside from practical neccesities like a office chair, and computer, Adams included a hideaway hammock, punching bag, a screen that monitors your boss’s movements, floor modules that lift for storage, and several oddities like an accoustically activated mechanical flower that shudders with happiness when you are present. Sadly the whole thing is far too unpractical for any company to install, but I can always dream.

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