A chair formed by 3D printing the shape of your butt

In collaboration with Unyq, manufacturer of 3D printed medical wearables, and educational e-sport company Area Academy, Ikea aims to develop an ergonomic chair especially for gamers, personalised by 3D scanning and printing the shape of your butt.

There are around 2 billion gamers in the world, a group that is quickly growing and quickly professionalising. With this, new needs and challenges come to light, one of them being increased demands on ergonomics.

Ikea consulted with professional gamers to create better, more ergonomic solutions for gamers. Along with Unyq, Ikea developed a prototype of a 3D printed hydraulic stool, which is personalised by making a 3D scan of the user’s body. The seat contains two mesh pillows, which are shaped especially for your butt.

The prototype of the chair took nine weeks to design and execute. The idea is that customers can visit an Ikea store to get their body scanned and purchase the special stool, which has been optimised for playing e-sports even without the personalised pads. The biometric data is then send out to create the personalised seating pads, which the user receives in about two weeks. The pads can be inserted in to the seat. The result of the collaboration will be available for a limited time in 2020.

Photos: Ikea / Unyq