Bodyfriend Wins Two Awards for 'Ergonomic Design'

Bodyfriend's Phantom Robo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghyun Choi] Bodyfriend announced on the 7th that it won two awards, the ‘Best Innovation’ and the ‘Special Award,’ at the Ergonomic Design Awards (EDA) hosted by the Korean Society of Ergonomics.

Now in its 22nd year, the Ergonomic Design Awards recognize domestic and international products with excellent ergonomic design. The awarded products are selected through a rigorous evaluation of usability, efficiency, functionality, emotional quality, and safety from the consumer’s perspective.

At this year’s ‘2022 Ergonomic Design Awards,’ Bodyfriend’s massage chair ‘Phantom Robo’ won the Best Innovation award, and the research project on ‘Massage Chair for Seniors’ received the Special Award. It is rare for a mid-sized company like Bodyfriend to win two awards, as the awards have traditionally been dominated by major corporations.

The ‘Phantom Robo’ massage chair, which won the Best Innovation award, applies patented technology that independently drives and massages both legs, differentiating it from existing massage chairs. By allowing free movement of both legs, it enables the design of new massage patterns, allowing stretching of core and lower body muscles that were previously difficult to stimulate.

The research project on the ‘Massage Chair for Seniors,’ which won the Special Award, is a concept design proposed by Bodyfriend’s Experience Design Lab for senior customers. By collecting Voice of Customer (VOC) data to derive insights, the project proposed product design and engineering that consider the physical characteristics and needs of senior users, receiving high praise in usability evaluations from actual users.

A Bodyfriend representative stated, “We will continue to strive to improve user experience through research and development of massage chairs considering ergonomic aspects,” adding, “We will continue to lead design innovation through unique attempts and multifaceted user analysis.”