QUICK READ: Smart chairs – the age of the HRV chair is here

Shiftwave’s new Shiftwave Arc is a $20,000 recliner that reads your pulse and vibrates in time with your heart rhythm. Resonant breathing combined with resonant vibration – and I’m not even sure that last one is a ‘thing’.

• Shiftwave unveiled the Arc this week as part of its new Active Regulation platform, and the Shiftwave Arc product page lists it at $20,000.
• The chair combines pulsed pressure waves with breath-guided audio, in a shape designed by Jakob Wagner, whose earlier work includes headphones for Bang & Olufsen.
• In select sessions, Shiftwave’s patented BioDrive mode reads your pulse from a sensor and changes the vibration in real time, while you breathe at about six breaths a minute.
• Shiftwave says its new app suggests a session based on how you feel, your goal and the time you have. It runs on iPhone and iPad, with Android planned.
• The existing Shiftwave Pro, a portable chair that Shiftwave sells for $9,375, also works with the new software.
• Shiftwave expects first Arc deliveries in mid-February.

What it means for athletes

Resonance breathing is based on a simple idea: breathing at around six breaths a minute maximises heart rate variability (HRV). Anyone who has used a chest strap and an HRV biofeedback app will know the technique.

The Arc adds vibration to the process. In standard sessions, the chair pulses in programmed patterns alongside the breathing cues. In BioDrive mode, the pulses follow your heart rate, rising as you breathe in and fading as you breathe out.

The theory is that the vibration makes slow breathing work better. Your heart rate already rises and falls with each breath, and the vibration is supposed to reinforce that pattern, producing a bigger heart rate swing and potentially higher HRV. Shiftwave has not explained how the vibration affects the body, or shown that adding it improves on breathing alone. One possible mechanism might be increased focus on breathing, reducing distraction. That’s plausible, but not proven.

At $20,000, the Arc is aimed mainly at homes, hotels and wellness spaces. The cheaper, portable Pro chair suits training facilities, and Shiftwave says teams across all five major US professional sports leagues already use its chairs.

Shiftwave has published four studies involving 164 people, including NCAA athletes, firefighters and police officers. None had a control group, all were sponsored by Shiftwave, and none has been independently peer-reviewed. They relied on participants reporting how they felt rather than on measurements such as HRV, so it is hard to tell whether any improvement came from the chair or from ten minutes resting with headphones on.

A randomised controlled trial with Ohio State University and the US Air Force Research Laboratory is now enrolling. It should show whether the chair offers anything beyond rest and guided breathing.

Quick answers

Does the Shiftwave Arc measure HRV?
It reads your pulse during BioDrive sessions and adjusts the vibration to your heart rhythm while you breathe slowly. Shiftwave’s published studies did not report HRV results.

Is there proof that Shiftwave improves recovery?
Not yet. Its four published studies were sponsored by Shiftwave, had no control group and used self-reported scores, and a controlled trial with Ohio State University is still enrolling.

Related: recovery trackers and lifestyle bands, best recovery tracker, how accurate wrist HRV really is and Temple’s own heart rate study.

Last Updated on 5 November 2026 by tfk the5krunner

tfk the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. See the gear tfk uses. ID