Anyone that has to stand up to work all day will know just how tiring it can be. You cannot of course carry around a stool with you all day as this just isn’t practical. However, this may soon be a thing of the past as a Swiss start-up company has now come up with the Chairless chair. The chair is worn by way of an exoskeleton that is strapped to the back of the legs. You can run around and walk witout restricted movement at all but when you just need to rest your feet you can lock it into chair position.

Keith Gunura, the company CEO, has been developing the Chairless Chair since back in 2009 while worked at the Bioinspired Robotics Lab over at the ETH Zurich research Institute. The chair came around following his memories of the first job that he had which involved him standing up all the time.

The Chairless Chair is now in the prototype form and has finally been actively marketed. The Chairless Chair makes use of a powered variable damper that can support the bodyweight of the wearer. All the wearer of the device has to do when they want to sit down is to bend their knees, just as if they were actually going to sit down in a chair, then engage the damper. The chair then locks into place and directs the weight onto the heels of the person’s shoe, to which it is attached. As well as at the heel the wearer is also strapped in at the thighs with a belt.

There has been plans for a commercial model that would weigh 2kg and which would be able to operate for around eight hours on just one single charge from the 9 volt battery. At the moment nothing has been said about the price tag.

"At the moment we are getting a lot of interest and e-mails from all kinds of people who want to use the Chairless Chair in very different areas: factories, film industry (photographers and camera men), medical, agricultural (harvesting and gardening), hiking, and a lot others," noonee CFO Olga Motovilova told reporters. "Our focus at the moment is factory environments."

Be the first to read our latest stories, analysis, and trend-spotting on tech from every corner on earth. Sign up for our weekly newsletter today.

Stay on top of the latest engineering news just enter your email and we’ll take care of the rest.

Stay ahead with the latest science, technology and innovation news for free

By subscribing, you agree to ourTerms of Use andPrivacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.

For full access to all features and product updates.

Already have an account? Log in