The best office chairs typically tend to allow an assortment of adjustments, allowing you to fine tune it to whichever posture feels most comfortable at any moment. While that’s great and all, having to make manual adjustments every time you want to change your posture can get old really fast. That’s especially true now, with many office work requiring individuals to go from typing on a keyboard to checking an email on their phone to reviewing data on a second monitor to joining a Zoom call within the span of a few minutes. The Steelcase Karman looks to address this contemporary need by providing an office chair that lets you change posture seamlessly.
Designed to “make comfort effortless,” the chair will make any necessary adjustments all on its own, responding in any way that best supports its occupant’s weight and movement. No need to fine tune a couple things every time you switch postures – you just find the most comfortable position for whatever task is on hand and the chair will move on its own to support the change.
The Steelcase Karman performs its adaptive functions by eliminating the rigid frame that’s commonly used in office chairs, instead opting for a lightweight frame that’s able to flex to provide a more adaptive support. It also uses an entirely new performance textile called Intermix, a self-supporting textile that delivers spring, rebound, and total stability, distributing the weight evenly over the seat and back, while flexing to fit the contours of a person’s body and adjust to any movement. According to the outfit, the textile comes with an exclusive weave that never sags or feels stiff, allowing it to create ideal ergonomic support.
They paired that new textile with integrated cushioning at strategic sections, too, so it’s cushioned wherever your body will need the additional comfort. This combination of frame, textile, and cushioning allows the chair to eliminate stiff edges no matter how you sit on it, allowing you to lean back during a Zoom meeting, sit sideways while checking your phone, or switch to any traditionally less-than-ideal posture without feeling discomfort on the seat and back.
The Steelcase Karman only weighs 29 pounds, which, the outfit claims, is less than the weight of many leading mesh chairs. According to the outfit, they did this by intentionally designing it so that it uses the least number of components necessary as part of their mission to reduce their carbon footprint. Despite this, it’s engineered to be incredibly strong, allowing it to support occupants, no matter how they sit.
The chair, by the way, will be available with 13 colors and finishes for the new textile, allowing you to find an aesthetic that best fits any office or home workspace. As with other office chairs, it can be ordered either without arms or with the outfit’s adjustable 4D arms, as well as your choice of soft dual wheel casters, hard dual wheel casters, soft hubless casters, hard hubless casters, or glides. Lumbar support is an option, too, in case you’re not too fond of chairs without additional cushioning in that area.
The Steelcase Karman comes out first half of 2022. No pricing has been announced.