Posted by Heidi Schwartz
In the age of robotics, now there’s a solution to the need for spontaneous, ergonomically sound seating—one that instantly turns the average worker into ROBOCHAIR WORKER! The Chairless Chair® is here, and it’s about to take the workplace by storm…maybe.
Designed by an international team of visionary engineers from ETH Zurich, the Chairless Chair sets out to incorporate wearable ergonomic devices that support the user’s bodyweight. The developers’ website refers to the concept as “wearable mechatronic technology” in a “powered, lightweight, and energy efficient lower limb posture support device.”
More from the company’s website:
Today’s workforce is diverse and includes people of differing sizes, statures, and disabilities. Safety concerns must be addressed for all groups represented in the workforce, especially those related to injuries due to awkward postures or repetitive stress. Such injuries result in heavy costs, including medical expenses, operations down time, workers compensation premiums, and retraining. These costs are a major burden for companies and their employees and can be reduced by using adequate preventive measures.
Our technology offers a promising preventive measure in those tasks involving non-optimal body postures or repetitive movements. Chairless Chair also offers the possibility to:
- Support injured workers to return to work faster;
- Reduce, if not, eliminate the need for micro breaks, rotation of workers among tasks, and other inefficient practices; and
- Give a wider range of employees (such as older or smaller workers) the ability perform tasks safely
The Chairless Chair is specifically designed to help workers in manufacturing, packaging, sorting, food service, and courier industries.
Check out this video demonstration:
Would you trust it to support your body weight? Or is it just a gimmick that’s cashing in on the robotics craze? What do facility managers and engineers think?
hmmmm… you’d think it would be cheaper for the hypothetical factory to just provide low tech stools for their line employees.