CES 08: Chair of the Year Awards

January 9, 2008 10:59 AM

Pop quiz hot shot--what's the most in-demand piece of electronic equipment at the Consumer Electronics Trade Show?

No, it's not the Microsoft Surface. It's not a new Intel chipset. It's not a Macbook, or an e-book. It's not an OLED TV, or a curved DLP, or a robotic manatee. And it's definitely not an HD DVD player.

Think leather cushions. Think smooth reclining action. Think vibration features, arm massagers, and butt-kickers.

Yes, above all else, the most tested products on the show floor this year were chairs. And no wonder--CES is a labyrinth of Poe-like proportions. Some are here to buy, some are here to sell, but others--others just want to sit their ass down.

That's where I come in.

I took time out from the hectic pace of covering games and electronics in order to focus on what Shackers really want--all the best in chair news and reviews. So sit down, relax, and check out this year's Chair of the Year Award winners.

Achievement in Overall Utility
Winner: The Repose

The Repose is a thick red thing of beauty. Sitting in it was a breathtaking experience, and that was only half the story. Among its many features are a gentle airbag massage, a built-in seven speaker system for DTS sound, a USB charger, wireless music player connectivity, a multitude of digital inputs, and a cup holder. Sure, it's missing the standard 2.4ghz wireless audio receiver and built-in fridge, but it's hard to fault it for that.

Just kidding. It's only missing the fridge.

And how about that name? The Repose. Simple, classy, it calls to mind both Manny Calavera and Christopher Walken in a bathrobe, two wonderful images that should always be in your mind as you recline in The Repose.

Runner-up: The Chair of Lecter

I'm calling this guy the "Silence of the Lambs" model. Designed by Zed from Pulp Fiction, this chair has clearly bypassed some kind of governmental regulation on its way to CES. Or was it just wheeled in from the Adult Video convention down the hall?

Either way, I was too terrified to try it, but it looked like it probably should win an award, which is enough for me to vote for it, right?

Achievement in Plastics
Winner: Game Center

This self-contained gaming pod by Game Center is a little perplexing. One part Minority Report, one part A.I., it makes for quite the imposing pod. When Spielberg said he wanted someone to cry from a game, he didn't mean he wanted your wife to cry when you brought something like this into the house.

Still, as a kid, this would have been pretty cool. Especially since the next logical step is to black drape a sheet over the side and turn it into a giant egg-fort.

Worst Bargain
Winner: Dreamflyer

The Dreamflyer is basically a powerless flight simulator--a metal frame mounted on a big gimbal, counterbalanced by a weighted tail. Attached to the frame are throttles, pedals, joysticks, three large LCD monitors, and a chair. The gimbal reacts to the action of the center column, using your weight to drive the motion. Gravity takes care of the rest.

Well, your wallet does some of the heavy lifting. The tri-mounted unit costs almost $3000. Monitors not included.

Most Likely Cause of Herniated Disk
Winner: D-box

While Dreamflyer aims for elegance, D-box takes the manly approach to flight and racing chairs--more power. Mechanized jackhammer-like mounts rattle your bones in car simulators, and they help simulate motion in the flight sim configuration.

Of course, this doesn't help when your demo unit is trying to run Flight Simulator 2007 on a 40" TV in high resolution mode and crashes hard, but the seat was comfortable enough that I didn't mind.

Achievement in Whiteness
Winner: Intel

The Intel Hi-Def Lounge had some pretty crazy chairs. These babies were real space-age buckets, with built-in speakers and mysterious lights. It may as well have been an ad for 2001: A Space Odyssey in HD.

Ultimately, I felt the Intel chairs were a little lacking in terms of depth. I would have liked to have seen greater characterization, both inside and outside the chair. Not quite Chair of the Year material.

Turn the page to find out more about this year's chairs of CES, including our winning pick. _PAGE_BREAK_

Silliest Use of Chair-enabled Technology
Winner: Intel

Intel also had a pair of F1 frames set up, their steering wheels connected to remote-controlled toy cars half a mile away via the new Wi-Max wireless technology.

The chair wasn't the most comfortable in the world, and the remote cars were slow as dirt, but I won my race, so Intel makes the list again.

Best Alternative to Sex
Winner: 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder

The 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder may be more than a chair, but it has chairs in it. And 512 horses. And more testosterone than the entire South Hall of CES.

Monster Cables was touting this car, perhaps hoping to draw attention away from their overpriced products with an even more overpriced product. Either way, it was cool to look at.

Runner-up: X-Rocker

Ahh, rumble chairs. There's nothing quite like falling asleep as the peaceful sub-sonic frequencies of The Bourne Ultimatum Special Edition give your buttocks a firm shake.

There were plenty of rumble-chair hybrids at the show, but the X-Rocker was one of the few mobile units with proper arm rests and padding, which definitely earned it extra points.

Get some Halo time in while your girlfriend dials it to 11.

But if Lamborghini and vibrators couldn't win the coveted top award, what could possibly top them?

Best Chair of CES 2008
Winner: The Chair-stool

Going into award deliberations after one of the most amazing years of chairs in recent memory, we all assumed this category would be hotly contested. As it turned out, the chair-stool was the clear winner, standing tall above the competition.

The chair-stool's utility is unmatched by any other chair on the market. Not only was the chair-stool the most popular of all chairs on the floor, but it also was the easiest to carry. There were chair-stools everywhere. In booths. In conference rooms. In bathrooms.

Its competitors--all excellent--are largely refinements of existing formulae, either sequels or spiritual successors to past groundbreaking chairs. Building off the proof-of-concept stool, the chair-stool adds a short backing to the mix, and gets it all right.

Some are likely to angrily contest the choice of the chair-stool on the grounds that it is more stool than chair; on the contrary, its hybridity only enhances its quality.

And, unlike almost everything else here at CES, the chair-stool is both practical and affordable.

We did not take Chair of the Year to mean "most value for money" or "best package" or "most epic experience;" it recognizes quality, ambition, achievement, and the pure joy of sitting. In a year packed with many incredible chairs, the chair-stool stood out to us as our 2008 Chair of the Year.

So there you have it, the best chairs of CES 08. It was a banner year for the chair industry. Here's hoping for some more great seats come next year.

Bonus Award
Best Computerized Embroidery Machine
Winner: brother

Oh, you guys are going to check out the Microsoft Surface, huh? That's pretty neat.

Nah, that's cool, I'll catch up with you later. Yeah, I just need to go talk to a CEO or two for a second. Tell them what for. Threaten legal action. You know how it is.

Oh hey guys, you're back fast. What am I doing? What do you mean? Oh, you mean these things. It's really weird. For some reason I just get better reception over here. By the computerized embroidery machines.

Nick Breckon

Filed Under

CES 08