Herman Miller's celle Chair and Babble Voice Privacy Technology Win "Best of NeoCon 2005" Awards
June 13, 2005


Herman Miller's innovative new celle work chair and breakthrough Babble voice privacy technology today won "Best of NeoCon 2005" awards at the annual industry exposition in Chicago.

celle won the Innovation Award in the Seating: Ergonomic Desk/Task category; Babble earned Gold honors in the Workplace Technologies category.

Celle, designed by Jerome Caruso for Herman Miller, features Cellular Suspension that uses pliable molder polymer "cells" and loops to responsively flex in concert with the body's movements throughout the workday. Following the rigors of Herman Miller's Design for Environment (DfE) methodology, the chair has 33 percent recycled content, is 99 percent recyclable, and can be disassembled in less than 5 minutes with simple hand tools. celle brings a new level of ergonomic performance and a unique, progressive aesthetic to mid/low priced contract seating.

Babble provides voice confidentiality and security of information in open-plan work environments. Its desktop format connects to the telephone and sends the user's voice out in multiplied and "babbled" form through proprietary speakers arranged in the work area. Introduced through Sonare Technologies / A Herman Miller Company, the phone-based device represents the first of several innovative new products and technologies expected from the new subsidiary.

The Best of NeoCon Competition honors new products introduced to the U.S. market since the close of the previous year's competition. Award sponsors include the International Interior Design Association (IIDA), Contract magazine, and Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc.

Babble is on display at Herman Miller's Chicago National Design Center, 321 Merchandise Mart, during NeoCon 2005, June 13-15.

About Herman Miller
Herman Miller helps create great places to work, heal, learn, and live by researching, designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative interior solutions that support companies, organizations, and individuals all over the world. The company's award-winning products, complemented by furniture-management and strategic consulting services, generated $1.34 billion in revenue during fiscal 2004. Herman Miller is widely recognized both for its innovative products and business practices. In fiscal 2004 Herman Miller was named recipient of the prestigious National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. In 2005 the company was again included in Business Ethics magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and was cited by Fortune magazine as the "Most Admired" company in its industry. The company trades on the NASDAQ market under the symbol MLHR.