Models embody chair-1  Embody chair-2 

Herman Miller 公司始于1923年，从一家生产传统家具的公司演变形成美国现代家具设计与生产中心。它是美国最主要的家具与室内设计厂商之一。这家公司因其老板赫曼．米勒(Herman Miller) 而得名。Herman Miller 公司认为设计是企业经济的一个有机组成部分，并与世界著名的设计师合作，拥有自己的设计师队伍。其中Gilbert Rohde, George Nelson, Charles & Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, Isamu Noguchi, 就是Herman Miller公司的设计先驱，他们使得Herman Miler 改变传统的家具设计路径。而在20世纪60年代，经过8年的研究，Robert Dropst(罗伯特．普罗佩斯特)创立世界第一个开放式的办公家具系统"行动式办公室"（"Action Office"）。也就是今天被广泛采用的开放式办公屏风系统。1976年Herman Miller 生产出Ergon椅子，将人体工程学运用到办公椅子的设计中;1984年，Equa椅子进一步将人体工学应用到办公椅子设计里；1994年，Herman Miller 在椅子设计得到一个新的突破---革新地设计出Aeron 网椅，并获得了欧洲家具工业研究协会（FIRA）颁发的人体工程学优秀奖，该奖是欧洲人类环境改造学的最高奖项。现在，这张Aeron椅子作为永久展品陈列在纽约现代艺术博物馆中。在世纪转换之时，Herman Miller 的全球研究、设计队伍开发出Resolve 系统屏风，它利用几何学的原理，创造出宽敞舒适的工作环境，光线渗透性强，颜色协调，充满了生动的气氛，令工作环境，休息场所更加富于乐趣。我们相信Resolve 会给我们的用户带来更舒适的享受，支持着新型工作人员和新型的工作。而且，Resolve 也和Aeron一样,作为永久展品陈列在纽约现代艺术博物馆中。

The Embody story began in the design studio of Jeff Weber and the late Bill Stumpf. They had an idea: 'What if a design could go beyond just minimising the negative effects of sitting? What if we designed a chair that positively impacts your life so you can work and live better?"

Stumpf, designer or co-designer of Herman Miller's Aeron, Equa, and Ergon work chairs, came to Herman Miller with the idea and said, "I think I have one more in me." Stumpf passed away in 2006. Working closely with a cross-functional team from Herman Miller, Weber carried on. As Embody's designer, Weber gave the chair its function and form, building on Stumpf's inspiration.

Their idea arose out of their approach to design. "You can't design without empathy," says Weber, who also designed Herman Miller's Caper chair. "Since design has become more technology based, we've had to sit in our chairs in front of computers for longer periods of time -just like everyone else. We identify with the problems people have as a result of sitting, and we identify with their need to produce ideas."

Throughout the development of Embody, over 30 professionals contributed a range of expertise. Physicians and PhDs in the fields of biomechanics, vision, physical therapy, and ergonomics helped test hypotheses, review prototypes, and conduct studies that led to the first health-positive chair.

In the earliest discussions with the experts, three hypotheses were tested on them:

- Office worker well-being and health can be health-positive or therapeutic, not merely health-neutral.

- Dynamic surface pressure on a chair and back will provide more comfort, liveliness, and health-positive benefits than non-dynamic surface pressure.

- Work chairs can allow us to naturally achieve postural equilibrium (the upright balance point when our eyes are vertically aligned with our hips), no matter what our spinal curvature.

Expert input on these hypothesis fueled Weber and Stumpf's early thinking about the chair and formed the basis of experiments designed to establish if such a chair was possible. Prototypes followed, with experts sitting in them and offering appraisals of what was good and what wasn't. Researchers conducted laboratory experiments involving kinematics, preferred postures, pressure distribution, seated tasks, and metabolics. These guided the development of Embody and confirmed its health-positive benefits.