The Best Chair We've Ever Sat On

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Herman Miller Embody Review: The Best Chair We've Ever Sat On

                               
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from Gizmodo: Top by Jason Chen

                               
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  As anyone who's worked in an office would know, Herman Miller's Aeron is thechair to have at your desk for both comfort and status. As a guy who'sworked at his share of Silicon Valley startups the net boom and bust,I've only had the privilege of stealing Aerons from coworkers when theyweren't looking; never actually being actually senior enough to sit onone full time. Things are different now, my fellow prisoners, withHerman Miller's latest creation, the Embody. Its $1600 body wasdesigned by Bill Stumpf, who was also responsible for—among otherprojects—its famous predecessor, the Aeron. It's no surprise that theEmbody feels very good.
  First a quick rundown on design.The Embody is made from non-toxic and sustainable materials (42%recycled content), which makes the entire thing 95% recyclable. It's anextremely beautiful chair when viewed as a whole, but if you zoom in tolook at each individual edge, joint and connector, it gets even moreamazing. Check out the gallery above to see what we mean.
Theare seven different knobs, buttons and levers you use to adjust yoursitting position to fit your body. or The seat is also made up of fourlayers.

                               
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...thebottom is a series of plastic bands providing suspension, the second isa sheet of coils for support, the third is a system hexagonal ringsthat shift with your weight and the final layer is a mesh that allowsair circulation to keep the sitter cool.

                               
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Themost important part, though, is the backrest. Herman Miller claims that"a matrix of pixels creates dynamic seat-and-back surfaces thatautomatically conform to your every movement and distribute your weightevenly." They claim that this will reduce stress, help circulation,lower your heart rate, improve your posture and pretty much make you abetter worker. Does it work?

                               
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It'shard to say conclusively, or scientifically without a doctor actuallyhooking up electrodes and taking blood samples before and after usingthe seat. But it is the most comfortable chair we've ever sat in. Youcan adjust the amount of recline, the tension of the recline, your seatdepth, your back curvature, your armrest positioning and how high theseat is. But you can do this on many other chairs. What makes this onespecial—and more comfortable—is that the backrest has individualsupports. Think of a Simmons mattresses with individual coils; thisadjusts and supports whatever contortions you're putting your spine through in your daily routine of reading Gizmodo.
TheEmbody is also really, really heavy. Granted, my muscles have longatrophied to the point of uselessness, but this has got to be one ofthe most heavy chairs I've ever lifted up a flight of stairs. It's alsovery sturdy. You never feel like you're going to break the chair, nomatter how far back you lean. And, if you turn the tension up highenough, you'll never accidentally feel that horrible falling sensationyou get from reclining back too fast. Extremely embarrassing duringmeetings.

                               
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Theonly question left is whether or not you should spend $1,600 of yourown money on this. Unless you're like us and you work at home in frontof your computer for 12+ hours a day, probably not. But if you canconvince your boss to buy this for you, DO IT. Tell him you'll get morework done because you'll actually not hate sitting at your desk. Butyou know the real reason why you want it: because you don't want to bea hunchback by the time you're 50. [Thought Pile via Herman Miller]
Notes:The Steelcase Think and Humanscale Freedom have been worthy competitorsto Herman Miller chairs in the past, so they might be very goodcomparison chairs for you to try out before deciding which one topurchase for your office. The Embody is newer, of course, so it mighthave taken the best of both chair designs and incorporated it here.