OTO The hugging Chair

OTO the sensory chair

This innovative chair has inflatable inner walls that apply deep pressure on the body. This pressure helps reduce anxiety in people with sensory disorders, so they can feel calmer, more available and able to participate in learning or social interaction. OTO was co-designed with the help of people directly concerned by autism. The aim of the chair is to be used autonomously, in order to make users answer to their own sensory needs. The inflatable cells create deep pressure on the user’s upper and lower part of the body. The remote have pictograms buttons that inflate or deflate cells. OTO is easy to use for autistic people and caregiver. Thanks to its cocoon shape, OTO offers privacy and gives a reassuring effect and a feeling of safety for the user. The upholstery of the chair provides a muffled acoustic, that help user to focus on their own body.

OTO made with autistic people

Very few products exist on the market to apply deep pressure on the body. If you have sensory disorder, the current solutions utilized to feel the limits of your body are to be held tightly in someone's arms or to be pinned to the ground by the weight of another person or to lie down under a mattress to get this feeling. These solutions are unsatisfactory and unsuitable. OTO, the hugging chair, is innovative because it meets this need in an ethical manner and with the user's full control. Users and the medical team confirm that it is important to have access to non-stigmatising therapeutic furniture that could contribute to the soothing effect. The design have been done with its users : people with autism and educators have been integrated at the beginning of this project to understand their daily life and their needs to make useful furniture. From the concept to the first version test have been made to verify its usability. Since 2021, it is in use in the Center of Excellence on Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in France for a clinical study. Visitors are invited to try OTO to better understand the sensory experience of deep pressures and express their feelings.