Challenge💡
How can we design a chair for the elderly that offers health benefits but does not serve as a risk and is a beautiful object?
Key Objective🔑
Combat fall risk and reduce fall risk simultaneously. Create an aesthetically pleasing piece of low-impact exercise equipment that functions dually as a normal comfortable seat.
Advisors: Elham Moreshedzadeh, Ben Kirkland
Team Member: Claudia Hasenfang, Oriana Nordt, Gregory Phaff, Robert Rieker
Mentor: Logan Merill
My Role: Ideation, Research, Prototyping, Visualization, Presentation
Tools: Adobe Indesign, Keyshot, CAD, Sketching
Timeline: 2 Semesters

















Graphics Courtesy of Oriana Nordt
The Obliques are located on the lateral sides of the abdominal wall.
The obliques allow for side to side movement as well as twisting. The strength of our obliques determines how much support we have on our lower back and overall posture.
We can workout this muscle group by doing Russian twists.

Graphics Courtesy of Oriana Nordt
The transversus abdominis is located on the front and sides of the abdomen. It is deeper than all the other abdominal muscles
It does many jobs, but most importantly is critical for the body’s overall function and stability.
Common workouts that can be done to strengthen this muscle group are leg pulses and lower leg lifts.

After talking with Community members of Warm Hearth, we found that there are two key demographics that highlight the issues of doing core workouts.
Gerald loves being active but finds discomfort in the current exercises he is doing, and is looking for an alternative to his typical high impact workout.
Esther has had back problems for a while and has not implemented a workout routine into her life. She is now looking for a way to introduce low impact core exercises into her routine to improve the quality of her daily life.

Render Courtesy of Claudia Hasenfang

Graphics Courtesy of Claudia Hasenfang
1. To use Tilt, the user takes a seat on the chair by using the arm rests to stabilize themselves.
2. Once seated, they use their core and pelvic muscles to push the backrest back and forth against the resistance cord for a duration of 30 minutes or one tv show.
3. Once finished, the user can safely lock the back rest in place by pulling out two metal bars from under the armrests and securing them behind the chair. They are now free to relax!

The resistance mechanism for the chair is made up of a resistance cord that locks into the back legs and runs through the backrest of the chair.
By pushing against the backrest, the resistance cords are activated. The applied pressure creates a low impact core workout as well as keeps the user reclining at a safe and steady pace.

Assisted by the elastic cord, bearings inside the metal housing rotate around a shaft to support the forces on the chair during use.
Keyways inside the hinge limit the range of motion to 15 degrees with soft bump-stops for a smooth motion.
The 15 degree angle of motion allows enough movement for successful exercise without compromising balance and stability.


the user, but the back cushion includes lumbar support. It is
important to stabilize the lower back while performing core
exercises, which the lumbar support offers.





