Technology: Sitting Pretty

The Inada D.1 is a high-tech massage chair with a surprisingly firm grip

It sounds like a cheap horror flick: you're sitting in this weird-looking chair when suddenly it grabs hold of your forearms and starts kneading them like cookie dough. Relax. Seriously. This is no nightmare. It's the Inada D.1, the ultimate in high-tech massage chairs.

Automatic massage devices tend to shake you until you're numb. The D.1 ($4,900) is more sophisticated than that. It uses a system of computer-controlled rollers that firmly and methodically press into your back. While that mechanism lulls you into bliss, inflatable air bags squeeze your hands, forearms, feet and calves to release tension and increase blood flow....

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