Steelcase Gesture: A Computer Chair You Cannot Afford | TechTree.com

Steelcase Gesture: A Computer Chair You Cannot Afford

A ridiculously expensive office chair that's specifically optimised for tablet and smartphone users.

 

Steelcase has brought the Gesture, its flagship product to India. Being a flagship offering, it costs a little over a lakh ($1,650 including taxes). Here's the kicker, though—the Gesture isn't something exotic such as a souped-up gaming PC, or a large-screen TV, or an audiophile-grade music system. It's an office chair. And although it has been designed to protect your spine from work-related injuries, I believe the price tag will still break your back.

What do you get for the ridiculous amount of money? Well, the press release is pretty sketchy about that bit, but it goes onto say that the company has spent unprecedented amount of time observing people sitting around at work. Based on that study, Steelcase has discovered nine new postures assumed by modern white-collar workers. These new postures supposedly have been brought upon by modern devices such as tablets and smartphones that are ergonomically diverse from your regular desktop PC.

James Ludwig, Vice President of Global Design for Steelcase, explains: “Tablets were introduced just three years ago. But many people are using chairs that were designed well before these new devices became pervasive at work. Back then, chairs were created to help people hold one pose in front of a computer all day. Now we know that people need to move and change positions regularly, especially as they engage with new technologies. We observed people in pain—they need a sitting experience designed for the ways we work today”.

Have An Extra Lakh Rupees? How About Spending It On A Computer Chair?

So basically, this expensive chair plays well with smartphones and tablets as well as your regular laptops and desktop PCs. How exactly? Steelcase explains with a nicely bulleted list:

  • Gesture encourages motion rather than forcing the body to hold a single posture.
  • The upper limb interface allows people to draw closer to a work surface to avoid hunching over a screen and easily move close to the body to support texting postures.
  • Unlike conventional chairs, Gesture’s core interface hugs the lower back when people recline to scroll on a tablet screen.
  • The seat interface adjusts rapidly to help users avoid perching on the edge of their chair.
  • Gesture embraces a broad range of body sizes and easily adapts to meet the needs of each individual user, which is critical in an increasingly global business environment that has to support diverse workers than ever before.
  • Gesture is a system of interconnected parts – inspired by the human body – designed to support every movement.

That's sounds fascinating, but no matter how comfortable it's designed to be, it will still be as relaxing as the Iron Throne, considering its Rs 1 lakh asking price.


TAGS: Gizmos

 
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