The Embody chair is the newest in a long line of successful ergonomic chairs designed and manufactured by Herman Miller. As with each of the Herman Miller chairs there were a few questions that guided the design. Bill Stumph and Jeff Weber wondered if they could design a chair that would do more than mitigate the negative aspects of sitting at a chair for extended periods of time. They wondered if they could design a chair that was health-positive rather than simply health-neutral.
“Work chairs can be health-positive or therapeutic, not merely health-neutral. Dynamic surface pressure on a chair and back will provide more comfort, liveliness, and health-positive benefits than nondynamic surface pressure. Work chairs can let us achieve postural equilibrium (the upright balance point when our eyes are vertically aligned with our hips) naturally, no matter what our spinal curvature.”
The design of the Embody chair is intended to reduce dynamic surface pressure and create postural equilibrium (the point at which your hips are aligned with your eyes). The unique spine like structure of the back rest is constructed with 56 “flexors” allowing it to easily support the user and 93 interconnected discs to allow the chair to conform to the sitter’s movements. The back rest is narrower than most ergonomic chairs. This narrowed design is intended to allow the sitter to comfortably rest against the back rest without affecting how deeply they can breathe.
Enabling greater blood flow and easier breathing is one of the primary tenants of the Embody. Through extensive research and testing Herman Miller has shown that many work chairs, whether ergonomic chairs or traditional chairs, tend to impede circulation. Impeded circulation leads to fatigue. Herman Miller contends that sitting can actually be good for the circulation, and this increased circulation when sitting can be accomplished using the Embody chair.
Chair flexibility is all the rage in ergonomic chair design. A lot of ergonomic chair design depends on the user maintaining certain posture and positions, some would describe these as stiff. The Embody chair embraces flexibility and encourages a more relaxed seating while retaining the healthy benefits of using an ergonomic chair. Flexible relaxed seating means that the user stays alert, retains stamina, and increases overall productivity.
Embody Chair Design
Unlike other Herman Miller chairs the Embody was designed to be one size fits all. They are able to accomplish this primarily through an adjustable seat pan and adjustable arm rests. In the past sizing an ergonomic chair for the specific user has been the most difficult aspect. Traditionally, this issue was solved by offering multiple chair sizes designed for large swaths of different body types. This was not a very good solution to a very serious problem. Often chair users either purchase the wrong size chair or are assigned, at work, the wrong size chair, causing at times sever discomfort. The adjustable seat pan solves this issue and enables a one size fits all design solution.
Will The Embody Chair Replace The Aeron
The Embody chair is the Cadillac of Herman Miller’s ergonomic office chairs. Many like to think of this chair as the successor of the Aeron chair. In some respects they are correct. However, although the Embody chair does extend ergonomic office chair design, it has not been designed as a replacement. In some respects it has been design to fill a gap in the ergonomic chair market place; a true ergonomic executive chair. This is strictly supposition. However, the price point for the base model Embody chair puts it squarely in the traditional executive chair market. It is doubtful that it will replace the Aeron chair as the most popular and most widely used ergonomic chair any time soon.
Where To Buy The Embody Chair
As with other Herman Miller chairs you should buy from authorized resellers. Buying the Embody chair from authorized resellers guarantees you will get what you paid for. This is particularly true for online resellers. Do not shy away from buying the Embody chair from market places like eBay or Amazon. Both of these online retailers are made up of hundreds of different retailers. If you choose to purchase from one of these marketplaces be sure that you purchase from an authorized reseller. Authorized resellers are not shy about letting you know they are authorized; it is a major marketing point for them. One drawback to purchasing from places like eBay is that you cannot make your own customizations. This is not a major issue, it just means you will have to look through the listings until you find the chair with the characteristics you are looking for.
Buying The Embody Chair Online
Herman Miller has an extensive listing of online retailers. Whatever, retailer you decide to purchase the Embody chair from should be an authorized dealer. It is an expensive chair. Protect your investment by purchasing it from an authorized dealer.
The Embody Chair In Video
The Embody chair is absolutely on of the best ergonomic office chairs on the market. It is ergonomically sound, durable, and comfortable. Because it is a newer chair Herman Miller has produced a number of promotional videos.
This first video outlines the history, research and design principles and philosophies that were the driving force behind the Embody chair. It is also a great over view of why Herman Miller thinks the Embody chair is health positive and not just health neutral.
This next video is an interview of Jeff Webber, conducted by Wired Magazine. What I think is really interesting here is that Jeff Webber describes the overall goal of the Embody chair is to “improve the overall health of the sedentary worker.” He goes on to explain exactly how they the design of the Embody chair enables accomplishes that goal.
This last video is simply a promotional video from Herman Miller introducing the Embody chair.
