A chair designed for gamers has been linked to reduced muscular stiffness and more wins for the players compared with a standard office chair.
at the New York Institute of Technology and her colleagues recruited 33 adults to play League of Legends, a popular online fantasy game, for two 2.5-hour sessions.
In the first session, the participants, who were all experienced gamers, sat in either an Aeron office chair or a TITAN Evo gaming chair, both of which they were free to adjust. Two days later, they had their second gaming session, during which they sat in the other chair.
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The gaming chair was linked to reduced muscle stiffness in the players鈥� left upper backs, compared with the office chair. This was measured via a device that assesses whether muscles are contracted, which can be painful, and by asking the participants how comfortable the chairs were.
There were also signs of the gaming chair slightly reducing stiffness in some of the players鈥� other back and neck muscles, however, a statistical analysis couldn鈥檛 rule out these being chance findings.
Sitting in the gaming chair was linked to 25 per cent more game wins and 15 per cent more character 鈥渒ills鈥� than the office chair. Surveys also revealed that 58 per cent of the players preferred the gaming chair over the office chair.
When it comes to ergonomics 鈥� the interactions between people and their environments and how these affect well-being and performance 鈥� we often focus on things such as posture and chair height, but in this case, the researchers allowed the gamers to sit however they felt most comfortable, so ergonomics turned out to be less important than the design of the chairs, says DiFrancisco-Donoghue.
鈥淩egardless of ergonomics, the gaming chair was orthopaedically better and more comfortable for the gamers,鈥� she says. Providing good muscular support is important for a pastime where 鈥渢he number one complaint鈥� is pain and discomfort, says DiFrancisco-Donoghue.
medRxiv
