Is Herman Miller’s new $1,495 Embody Gaming Chair worth the price? – Polygon

Herman Miller, the maker of office chairs like the Aeron, Embody, and Sayl, is making a gaming chair. Focused on streamers, gamers, and esports professional athletes, the Embody Gaming Chair is, according to the company, “the industrys first genuinely ergonomic chair.”

Over the last couple of years, the gaming world has actually been swamped with brilliantly colored, frequently garish racing-style gaming chairs. The new Embody Gaming Chair– the outcome of a collaboration between Herman Miller and Logitech– is decidedly subtle. Save for a splash of blue on the backside, it looks right out of my old cubicle.

John Campbell, who leads the video gaming business at Herman Miller, states that was a really intentional option. In an interview with Polygon, I asked him why Herman Millers brand-new Embody doesnt have any trendy red stitching or flashing LEDs.

” You would not be the first person to bring that up, particularly internally in both of our companies,” Campbell said with a laugh.

Image: Herman Miller, Logitech

Image: Herman Miller, Logitech

Ergonomics is mostly an issue that Herman Miller has actually currently resolved, Campbell said. It just took a couple of small modifications to the existing Embody product line to bring it as much as spec for gaming. The new chair features heat-dissipating, copper-infused fabric and a little more lift at the back of the seat. It keeps users cool, while putting them in a somewhat more put up seating position so they can be closer to the screen.

Campbell stated he sees the tastes of contemporary players developing faster every day.

Campbell is alluding to the fact that “typical” for video gaming chairs right now is vibrantly colored materials or leather, with high backs and headrests that double as a billboard looming behind banners relaying from homes all over the world. It includes a bright yellow leather seating surface area and an elegant red Oni skull leering from its backside.

Its that fashion-forward viewpoint that caused the appearance of the brand-new Herman Miller Embody. Campbell stated, its about catering to the human type. Thats why both Logitech and Herman Miller hung around with esports companies, looking carefully at how athletes were seating themselves in their chairs during practice and competition. Some tucked their feet under them, while others were hunched over their keyboards; neither of those is a posture thats good for the body.

” You go and look around on the battlestations subreddit,” Campbell said, “and youre beginning to see this actually fascinating shift to this truly high-end, exceptional video gaming setup. You start to see these adjacencies with sneaker culture and high-end style starting to collide into this world of gaming, especially as it becomes mainstream.”

Image: Herman Miller, Logitech

The Embody Gaming Chair is available to order right now, and will be matched by an optional brand-new display arm in short order.

We desire to make sure that our chairs really last that long. When you purchase the Embody Gaming Chair, what youre buying is the confidence that this chair is an investment.

At $1,495, the Embody Gaming Chair is less costly than your ordinary Embody (around $1,700 or $1,800 through most providers). Im just not completely sure that many folks are ready to put down more for a brand-new workplace chair than a new graphics card.

Over the last few years, the gaming world has been inundated with brilliantly colored, frequently garish racing-style video gaming chairs. The brand-new Embody Gaming Chair– the result of a partnership in between Herman Miller and Logitech– is extremely subtle. Campbell is pointing to the reality that “typical” for gaming chairs right now is brilliantly colored materials or leather, with high backs and headrests that double as a billboard looming behind streamers transmitting from homes all over the world. At $1,495, the Embody Gaming Chair is less pricey than your run-of-the-mill Embody (around $1,700 or $1,800 through most suppliers). When you buy the Embody Gaming Chair, what youre buying is the self-confidence that this chair is a financial investment.

Ive been test-driving the new seat for less than 24 hours myself, and I can already feel the impact that improved posture has on my body. I ended the day on Tuesday with less pain in my ideal hip, an issue brought on recently by extra long days invested in my new DIY flight simulator cockpit.

But, like a good salesperson, Campbell has a response to that objection as well.