Thesis (M.Sc.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Kinesiology and Health Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-64). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11762

M.Tech. / This research project endeavours to explore and develop notions of ‘contemporary African design’. The project focuses on chair design with particular reference to the Senufo articulated chair from the Ivory Coast. In order to frame the practical research the separate histories of Western chairs and African chairs are examined for common ground. Ideas of cultural identity and style as a means of communicating an African identity to the West are explored. Transculturation and liminality are presented as alternative conceptual stances from which to overcome conceptual and theoretical problems inherent in the term ‘African design’. The research also examines the notion of communication in products and artefacts aiming at a better understanding of how products and artefacts conceived in one cultural context are likely to be interpreted by another. A general semiotic theory is used as a starting point providing a comparison to various other alternate and/or opposing theoretical approaches. A chair designed in the Western Modernist tradition, Hans Wegner’s 1949 Folding Chair, is used as a basis for illustrating the applicability of such theoretical approaches. A traditional Senufo articulated chair is then used as a basis to explore cross-cultural interpretation: the ways in which one culture interprets the artefacts of another and attaches new and different meanings to these artefacts because of different cultural assumptions, attitudes and values. Finally, the insights gained from the theoretical and cultural understanding of the chairs are used as a basis for putting into practise a hybrid method for design: that of incorporating craft and design and allowing the two approaches to inform one another. After a thorough elimination process one design is chosen, refined and prototyped, this choice being rooted in the theoretical findings in order to develop a new stylistic possibility for African product design inspired by African cultural heritage.

The goal of this study is to create a method for designers to reconcile the critical functional and aesthetic requirements in chair design. This paper presents a brief history of the design of chairs, an overview of historical types of proportional systems, a discussion of anthropometry and the technical requirements of chair design. The body of the study involves the affects of the application of anthropometric measurement to the proportions of two Modernist chairs; the Zig Zag chair by Gerrit Reitveld and the Grand Confort or LC2 chair by Le Corbusier, Perriand and Jeanneret. Changes to the proportions of the chairs will be proposed in an attempt to fit a variety of people, including outliers in the population. The findings of the study indicate that the chairs resulting from the anthropometric changes are not considered beautiful or well proportioned when they contradict the structural logic of the original design. By determining a hierarchy of functional requirements and understanding the anthropometric values associated with it, a designer can develop the products aesthetics and test them during the design process using this method.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 210-216). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

This research investigated the need, design, and evaluation of a product capable of providing support to forward-leaning postures. Due to the high occurrence of low-back pain in industry potentially due to workers performing their tasks while assuming forward-leaning postures, along with the biological plausibility of these postures causing low-back pain, the need was established for a product that provides forward-leaning support. An envelope was quantified, ranging from the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male, to establish the range of potential forward-leaning postures. The design of a Support-Arm for use with current ergonomic chairs was discussed and design feature specifications were then provided. A Latin Square statistical design was employed to evaluate a Support-Arm model alongside 8 other commonly used chairs over 3 different postures. Subjects, overall, had lower peak pressures for the buttock-thigh region, increased productivity, higher comfort levels, and higher buttock-thigh contact areas when seated in the Support-Arm model chair as compared to the other chairs. Subjects, overall, also ranked this chair first over the other chairs for preferred use after having sitting experience in all 9 chairs. In an additional part of the evaluation, subjects chose their own set-up of the Support-Arm model chair. Eleven of the 18 subjects chose to use the Support-Arm when their workstation was located 36” above the floor. Subjects confirmed the need to design a Support-Arm capable of providing forward leaning support to the entire envelope of forward-leaning postures. Statistical evaluation revealed several significant differences between the chairs. The results gave no indication that the use of a Support-Arm for forward-leaning support may cause detrimental effects to users or overall chair ergonomics. Future research could track workers’ use of a Support-Arm in industry and compare their occurrence of low-back pain to a control group.

This research investigated the need, design, and evaluation of a product capable of providing support to forward-leaning postures. Due to the high occurrence of low-back pain in industry potentially due to workers performing their tasks while assuming forward-leaning postures, along with the biological plausibility of these postures causing low-back pain, the need was established for a product that provides forward-leaning support. An envelope was quantified, ranging from the 5th percentile female to the 95th percentile male, to establish the range of potential forward-leaning postures. The design of a Support-Arm for use with current ergonomic chairs was discussed and design feature specifications were then provided. A Latin Square statistical design was employed to evaluate a Support-Arm model alongside 8 other commonly used chairs over 3 different postures. Subjects, overall, had lower peak pressures for the buttock-thigh region, increased productivity, higher comfort levels, and higher buttock-thigh contact areas when seated in the Support-Arm model chair as compared to the other chairs. Subjects, overall, also ranked this chair first over the other chairs for preferred use after having sitting experience in all 9 chairs. In an additional part of the evaluation, subjects chose their own set-up of the Support-Arm model chair. Eleven of the 18 subjects chose to use the Support-Arm when their workstation was located 36” above the floor. Subjects confirmed the need to design a Support-Arm capable of providing forward leaning support to the entire envelope of forward-leaning postures. Statistical evaluation revealed several significant differences between the chairs. The results gave no indication that the use of a Support-Arm for forward-leaning support may cause detrimental effects to users or overall chair ergonomics. Future research could track workers’ use of a Support-Arm in industry and compare their occurrence of low-back pain to a control group.

Thesis (M.S.)--Marquette University, 2009. / Richard W. Marklin, Paula E. Papanek, Vikram Cariapa, Advisors.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (MDesign)--University of South Australia, 1994

Empirical knowledge is lacking on reclined seating postures. To unify such data, a biomechanical model is needed that accurately predicts posture, the relative position of the pelvis, the point of load transfer to the seat, internal and external forces, and the motion paths of the support surfaces. The overall aim of this investigation was, therefore, to create and validate a biomechanical model of reclined seating postures, and to evaluate in vivo measured and predicted data. A two-dimensional biomechanical model was developed, validated and applied. A comprehensive set of biomechanical data was collected from fifteen gender and age diverse subjects to examine the foundational principles for reclined seating ergonomics. The model agreed with 98.8% of measured data on posture across the seated test conditions. There was a significant relationship between modelled and measured force (p < .001, r = .92), which improved after normalisation (p < .001, r = .97) with an 8% full scale error. The model was robust across height and gender. Significant differences in interface pressure (peak pressure, average pressure and area), stature, back muscle activity and spinal curvature were found between all of the seated test postures. Significant relationships were found between the model predictions and all of the experimental data. This research is unique in creating a framework around reclined seating postures which connects previously disparate areas of seating research. The biomechanical model, experimental results, and theories developed from this research have potential implications in research, and design, for applications including backcare chairs, seating for long-term care and patients with neuromotor deficits, wheelchairs and airline seating. Furthermore, this study exists at the interface of anthropometric and biomechanical modelling, and therefore may have cross over potential to digital humans, where their integration with biomechanical models is at the cutting edge of the field.