Ergonomic Workstations – Cruise

As the way in which we work changes, so does the office furniture that we use. It is common knowledge that we are working on computers more and more and our bodies are suffering as a result of this. Office tasks used to be a case of inputting data whilst looking down at paperwork and typing on a keyboard, however now the type of office work that we do is shifting towards intensively sitting on our office chairs and looking at the monitor.

In order to combat this and prevent problems caused by bad posture the office furniture that we use needed to change. The ergonomic furniture that we use today tends to tilt the upper body away from monitor to find the best angle to work and distance from the screen. Okamura focused on these points outlined to develop the Cruise workstation that creates a posture not only for working, but thinking as well. Cruise is the product of mixing commercial working environments with the education sector to create a workstation that can be used in both situations. The rear tilt theory used on this ergonomic office chair was made through collaborative research with human body engineering at Keio University department of science and technology by professor Nobutoshi Yamazaki. Human body engineering is the research that attempts to understand the physical characteristics of the human body and its essential requirements.

This low-seat, rear-tilt posture is the result of accumulated experiments using office chairs, office desks and other equipment that is available in a variety of shapes. The Cruise workstation has a futuristic design, that maybe we will see in future other office furniture manufacturers attempting to imitate.