14 DAY TRIAL // Strength-enhancing exoskeletons can be dangerous if they're not built precisely to your measurements, because they can bend or break your joints and bones if they go active but aren't aligned to your body properly. Other types of exoskeletons can be really awesome though.
The Chairless Chair from Noonee is one such exoskeleton. Noonee is a Swiss startup company that believed people working in factories would appreciate the chance to sit down between errands.
This is actually a much more common problem than office workers are aware of. Humans who work in factories have to do a lot of standing or walking, even when they're taking a break, because there's simply nowhere to sit on.
And you can't exactly take a stool or chair along with you when you rush from one place to another, checking equipment and whatnot.
The Chairless Chair will allow you to sit down by essentially going rigid when you move to a sitting position.
The exoskeleton is mounted at the back of the legs and uses a powered variable damper to support the body weight of the wearer.
All you need to do is bend your knees and get to the level you'd like to sit on, then engage the damper. The Chairless Chair will lock into that position, directing the weight to the heels of the person's shoes.
The shoes are one attachment point. The others are the thighs (which the exoskeleton affixes to via straps) and the waist (via a belt).
The Chairless Chair is the product of five years of research and development that started back in 2009 at the ETH Zurich research institute. Noonee CEO Keith Gunura was a student there at the time, in the Bioinspired Robotics Lab. He got the idea because of his first job, which had him standing at a packaging line for hours.
When not engaged, the Chairless Chair will hang quite loose, allowing you to walk, stride and run if needed.
It is a prototype for now, but it has already been sent to some people. The final model will use a 9-volt battery with a charge life of at least 8 hours, a standard work day. And with a weight of 2 kilos / 4.4 pounds, you won't even feel it. Unfortunately, the price of this awesome invention is unknown.
Either way, we expect the device to see great success. Maybe factory and business owners will even requisition them and include them in standard employee equipment packs.
