Xchair

Xchair is Ben Elliot’s take on what a speculative lounge chair could be, designed in close relation to his ongoing metaverse project titled Metaone. A hybrid object, Xchair is a direct emanation of Metaone’s sensory exploration of XR (extended reality) landscapes. The chair’s lines and shape emulate the topographies of Metaone’s four distinct virtual environments (SHAPE, DEEP, INFINITE and ZEN), borrowing from the fluidity of their curves and spectral horizon lines. Created in an on-demand scheme in collaboration with Nagami, a pioneer design company specialized on 3D printing projects crafted with recycled polymer materials, the futuristic easy chair connects the digital with the physical like a gateway at the heart of one’s home or a living room portal. Its ergonomic design insightfully addresses the ever-increasing multiplicity of future domestic practices: working, eating and resting, in face of digital devices and XR tools. The chair’s curvy lines coalesce in layers to form an L-shaped object, whose cantilevered core functions as a spring and ensures responsive, dynamic sitting. Its grainy texture echoes that of a sensual surface intimately enveloping a body like skin or shells, while its “elastic” nature allows for its shape to undergo constant evolution. At the interplay between the solid and the liquid, this design object activates notions of liquefaction, fluidity, and data immersion. Xchair offers us a glimpse into future lifestyles, both preserved and renewed.

Olivier Zeitoun