Work from home has many perks, but sitting in our chairs all day long, isn’t exactly a perk for our backs. Especially if you’re a slouchy head like me, you’ll find yourself slinking off into the goofiest positions! But as comfy as these eccentric positions maybe, they’re dreadful for our vertebrae! They can have severe long-term effects on our back, and hence maintaining a straight and proper posture is critical. Hence, we’ve curated a collection of posture-friendly products to help give your back the proper support it deserves, and enable you to maintain a healthy posture. From a wearable waist belt that automatically adjusts pressure and corrects posture to an ergonomic chair that uses kinesiology to reinvent traditional back support-these innovative product designs are the ultimate solution to all your back and neck problems!
The Soul Seat helps you sit in a neutral posture that is effortless and comfortable. The springs on the elevated perch tilt the pelvis forward, open the hips and help align the spine. You can sit in several positions if crossing legs isn’t comfortable for you, the chair enables you to switch between multiple positions frequently keeping your body engaged and blood flowing. For some, this may also alleviate neck and back pain! The height of both levels can be adjusted to suit your workspace setup. I know there were many comments from our Instagram audience about it missing a backrest and while I don’t think it causes harm if you sit without one (people meditate and work in this very posture for hours in Asian countries), I do think having an option of a detachable backrest can help those who are just starting to work on their posture ease into it. It is about having that choice which opens up many more people to use the Soul Seat, however, there are countless reviews that mention it being comfortable as it is so it is a great design but it does come down to personal preference.
Industrial designer SangWoon Kim has reimagined the traditional waist support belt as a smart design to protect the lumbar spine better. Basically, it functions like any standard belt to compress the waist and isolate our breathing patterns. The striking difference is the ability to tighten the belt automatically, depending on the intensity of the workout and the user’s breathing pattern. Kim calls it the BIND.CO belt and this workout accessory come in handy for any exercise mode and intensity. The innovation will be godsent for beginners who are still learning about the exact tightening of the belt needed for their workout. Thanks to the embedded sensors, the smart belt tightens during exercise and loosens at the time of rest between activities.
CEO of CoreChair, Patrick Harrison says the foundation of a healthy spine is the pelvis and ability to move freely. CoreChair boasts its benefits through movement. Inspired by the stability ball, CoreChair encourages free movement in all directions within 14 degrees and incorporates a pelvic cushion that stabilizes and hugs the top, posterior side of the pelvis. I know when my posture seems lazy, I’ll line it up with my seat’s backrest, knocking my pelvic bone off-center in the process. In order to avoid uncomfortable seated adjustments like mine, CoreChair’s pelvic cushions are made from memory foam to provide constant postural support no matter how often you move around. Below the pelvic cushion, CoreChair’s sculpted seat creates a balanced spinal posture, swapping out the traditional tall backrest for a more open structure, promoting lots of active, controlled movement. CoreChair’s sculpted seat works in harmony with a pelvic stabilizer to relieve your pressure points that might otherwise absorb a lot of stagnant pressure and pooled blood flow.
Combining the bathroom mat and the bathroom scale into one product, the BBalance Mat will tell you your weight while keeping your bathroom floor dry… but it does more than just that. Outfitted with a body-composition scale, a posture analyzer, and even a sensor to recognize your footprint (so it works for all the members of your house), the BBalance Mat gives you an in-depth analysis of your health just as you step out of the bath. The mat immediately recognizes you as you step on it, calculates your weight, body composition, BMI, posture, and balance, giving you a comprehensive look at your body’s stats from day to day. Oh, and since it senses your feet, it’ll also tell you which shoe size you are, just as a nifty little added benefit!
Primarily designed for workers who spend most of their days sitting down in the office or at home, the 5° Chair features cushioning that forms to your body and posture to ensure comfortable sitting throughout the day. The chair’s seat plate cozies up to and hugs your hips for support from the bottom, with added cushion for comfort. Similarly, the backrest plate forms to the shape of your back to bolster your posture and encourage an upright spine. The 5° Chair’s legs are reinforced in the core with angled wave springs that can tilt in any direction, while the chair’s spindle can lean from side to side, 5 degrees from its center point. The rotatability of the 5° Chair allows it to adjust to your body’s natural movement, offering support from every angle.
Think of the Dorsum Exospine as a corrective aid you wear whenever needed… like spectacles or a helmet, but for your back. The Dorsum Exospine is a molded plastic spine that you wear for the better part of your day, going about your work, with it comfortably strapped to your back. It sits flush against your lumbar spine (lower back), reminding you to correct your posture and keep your spine aligned to relieve back pain as well as prevent the likelihood of further injuries. Molded from a thermoplastic polymer, the Dorsum Exospine is a combination of lightweight, supportive, and flexible materials. It integrates into a minimal shoulder-strap system and a waistband that allow you to secure it to your body, while a relatively discreet design allows you to wear it under your clothes, just like any back-support belt.
According to Gustavo, his furniture design named Mode, “brings joy and comfort within a furniture for those who work alone.” The minimalistic furniture design comprises a table, seat, and kneeling module – all working in different ways as per the requirement. It has a compact mode which turns it into an elegant side table – ideal beside the bed or sofa. Then there is the customary table and chair module for professional working hours. The most interesting is the kneeling mode that brings the function of a rocking chair for more comfortable working. This mode is triggered by pressing the lower button and pulling the extendable base support for back and forth motion. That’s not all, you can also remove the tabletop section for times when you are sitting down on the floor in a cross-legged position.
My Perfect Neck is to neck-muscles what weights are to biceps. Designed to give your neck a simple-yet-effective workout, My Perfect Neck works on the principles of stretching, isolating, and resistance training to help alleviate neck pain. The workout takes no longer than a minute each day, but through time, helps strengthen and tone the trapezius, cervical and sub-occipital muscles connected to your neck and upper spine, preventing neck pain while helping gradually correct your posture too. The neck-worn exercising equipment comes with a slim design that you could easily store in a bedside cabinet or even carry with you to the park. It opens up to sit around your neck like a neck pillow, with a lower flap that rests against your back, and an upper flap with a proprietary spring mechanism. Once worn, all you need to do is press back against the upper flap by looking down and up repeatedly (sort of like the neck equivalent of a push-up) for one minute.
Perhaps one of the most ingenious uses of patterns I’ve seen in a while, the Kyoma Yoga Mat from 1026 Studio comes with a neat set of graphics printed onto it. However, look closer and they’re actually a catalog of 118 exercises/postures for you to choose from! Fulfilling the role of a mat as well as an instructor, the Kyoma Yoga Mat really gives you a neat menu of positions to choose from. The mat’s graphics are split into two distinct categories with 59 stretching exercises and 59 yoga postures, and there’s even a Kamasutra edition with 59 poses, but hey… we’re a family-friendly website. Go look it up on your own if you want. The mat uses a two-layer construction, with a hypoallergenic cork upper, and a TPE base that prevents it from slipping or skidding while you meditate/exercise.
Meet the etöff motorcycle concept created with the vision to bring a sense of connection with the machine and adaptable safety. Now comes the coolest feature of this electric bike that sets it apart from other designs. The geometry of the seating position changes depending on the rider’s posture, the traffic conditions, and the speed of the motorcycle. This is done with a LiDAR sensor which detects the change in posture and sets the adaptive system into action to modify the ergonomic contact points of the rider. To keep the rider informed of the changes, the tactile feedback from the horse-rider interaction informs of the intervention of the motorcycle’s semi-autonomous assistance system. Basically, the battery acts as a stabilizing counterweight during slow rides and supports dynamic driving processes at higher speeds.
