Contemporary chair RAY

indoorplasticergonomic

The development of the RAY chair was based on a Ph.d thesis about ergonomic school furniture made by Simon Dennehy from the National College of Art & Design in Dublin. The range of innovative school furniture shall contribute to a more dynamic learning process in primary schools and support active learning. We need to minimize the static and seated learning and provide space for physical activity. The RAY chair focuses primarily on the seat pan design. Research has shown that traditional ‘right-angle’ sitting encourages poor back alignment, atrophy of the core muscle group and many long term, ‘lifestyle’ illnesses. The most effective way to sit for students is with an open angle between thighs and torso and with hip abduction. This allows the users’ pelvis to rotate forward, until the spine is neutrally balanced and able to support the upper body. In close collaboration with Irish schools, prototypes of the new school furniture were tested over a long period of time and video recorded for hundreds of hours. Prior to this research, various complex physical tests were performed at the Cork Institute of Technology as comparative tests with standard school furniture. These tests are some of the most comprehensive studies of sitting postures and their consequences. The choice of materials points to the future and the seat is made of a new and special plastic material that can withstand many deflections. The result is a very comfortable, lightweight chair that is robust for use in schools.