'Happy chair' to beat winter blues

Published on Thursday 19 August 2010 21:53

A SPECIAL "happy chair" created to give much-needed light therapy to people suffering the winter blues has been designed by a student in Scotland.

• Chuang, Meng Jung with the chair. Pic: Ian Rutherford

Chuang, Meng Jung decided to take action after noticing how the weather and natural light in Scotland differed from her home country of Taiwan.

After researching the British weather and its effects on the population, she set about designing a product that would help those in need of a health-giving boost of light.

The result is now going on display at Edinburgh College of Art, where Ms Chuang has been studying for a postgraduate masters in product design. She hopes the chair will now go into full production.

Ms Chuang was particularly concerned about the effects of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) – a form of depression which affects people during the darker winter months.

She discovered that women were twice as likely as men to suffer SAD, with as many as one in five having symptoms of depression during pregnancy.

The results of her research led her to build the Revive chair, with built-in lights to give users the recommended daily dose of light mimicking the effects of natural light.

The student, whose prototype chair goes on display at the college's postgraduate degree show tomorrow, now hopes to see the product mass produced.

Describing the "eureka" moment when she realised her design skills could help tackle a serious problem, Ms Chuang said: "Taiwan has very hot weather and we tend to cover up in the summertime. Here it is different. You love the sunshine and love to sunbathe.

"In Taiwan, during the summer we use umbrellas to cover our bodies. It was interesting for me. I wanted to know what local people thought about the weather here."

From speaking to Scots, Ms Chuang discovered that many suffered from SAD.

"In Taiwan we don't have this problem," she said.

"So I decided to focus on this condition because up to half a million people are thought to experience that problem."

Ms Chuang found that light therapy, such as using light boxes which emit strong light, was effective in treating SAD. But users had to pay for their own expensive equipment.

The Revive chair gives off the same high-strength light used by other equipment to treat SAD.

"The chair is touch sensitive, the lights come on for the recommended daily dose of 30 minutes, turning back to white light after this time so the user knows they've had their 'dose'," Ms Chuang said.

Ms Chuang took inspiration for the shape of the chair from the position of babies cocooned in the womb.

To reduce costs to users, she said it could be used in doctors' surgeries or other clinics where it could be rented out by the hour.

Kirsten Thomlinson, from Depression Alliance Scotland, said: "Some people with SAD find that light boxes provide a helpful boost during darker months which can help to reduce symptoms, so the idea behind this chair sounds interesting."