Niklas Hamann and Jakon Schwarz, both masters students at the HTW Dresden in Germany have designed Float, a minimal stool that is created to promote healthy sitting.
The two designers began by looking at what was considered to be sitting in a natural way, and then created a seat that puts the user ahead of fancy aesthetic or technologies. The result is very different from the average office chair. The seat is comfortable and flexible, taking into consideration the difficulty of sitting still for long periods. It allows for active sitting: when the seated person can move while in still in the chair.
Modern lifestyles and computer-led offices dictate that we spend more time than we should sitting down everyday. This can lead to back pain and muscle tension. The seats we spend all these hours with our bums on need to consider how they respond to the needs of our bodies.
The movement in the Float seat is based on centripetal sitting, which has been found in studies to be the most comfortable as it allows the weight of the body to move towards the centre of the chair.
Float is made of oak wood and steel connectors. The ball bearing-mounted seat is a simple and innovative system that allows for complete three-dimensional movement.
