BRADENTON - Local inventor Thomas Garland has patented technology that recreates the euphoria of a childhood swing in a living room recliner. After five years in research and development, his invention, Nirvana Swing, is set to hit the retail market at the end of February. The brainchild of the man who gave the world a best-selling odorless diaper pail called the Diaper Champ, sold in Toys R Us, Target and Babies R Us, Nirvana Swing is one in a handful of successes for Garland. In an industry not known for innovation, his Comfort Swing mechanism won Garland a 2004 Pinnacle Award for Innovation in Motion by the American Society of Furniture Designers.

The swing is designed to follow the natural path of an arc. Unlike porch swings, the Nirvana Swing sits on a stable base. It glides smoothly back and forth in seemingly endless motion. A handle allows you to refresh the swinging motion, but it's not something you can rock 'n' roll to.

"It's timed to the resting heart," said Garland, who runs his company with the help of two business partners: his son, Taylor Garland, and James Howle. Both Taylor and Howle are investment bankers who gave up six-figure incomes on Wall Street to come and work without a salary at Nirvana Swing. Both 27, they have been living off savings in exchange for a chance to be a part of a start-up company. Garland concentrates efforts on creating and inventing the product, while his two partners handle sales and marketing. "It's such an exciting product and something I saw potential in," Howle said.

At first glance, there's nothing unusual about a Nirvana Swing. If you see it sitting among a bunch of other chairs, it looks like any other recliner, said Leather Express owner Tom McKenna. "But if you open it up, it floats and floats and floats for what feels like an infinity." McKenna ordered 80 swings, which he plans to sell...at Leather Express locations in Florida, including one in Sarasota starting at the end of February. McKenna deserves some credit for taking on the risk associated with new technology in an industry that is slow to change, Garland said. "They believed in the product and me," he said.

McKenna, who has been in the furniture business for 21 years and "sat in a gazillion chairs," describes the Nirvana Swing as a show-stopper at furniture shows. "From birth, we love to be rocked back and forth," he said. "He took that feeling of euphoria from when you're a child and made it available to adults in the living room. It says to the world: 'I'm done for right now. Leave me alone. Let me relax.' "

Manufacturing of the chair's gliding mechanism is out-sourced domestically. The wood and leather parts are made in China. Future design work will be done at a 10,000-square-foot warehouse under construction at 2208 58th Ave. E. in 301 Park of Commerce North.

Aside from being used in the home, the swing has a variety of potential applications, Garland said. It has been tested at Integrated Healing Arts in Bradenton on patients undergoing chelation therapy, a blood purification treatment. "We have patients who sit for three or four hours," said Dr. Jeff Morrison, president and doctor of chiropractic. "We brought it in to see how people like it compared to a regular recliner, and we've had some pretty positive feedback." Morrison is considering buying some of the chairs for his business.

Garland says he can be easily bored but he's still excited about his new invention. He's already considering other applications for the Comfort Swing technology.

____________________
Back to In The News