Bárány chair

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Bárány chair
Demonstration of Bárány chair.jpg
A test person is sitting in a swivel chair. A second person has just stopped the rotation of the chair. The disoriented test person points at a sign held up by a third person.
ICD-9-CM 95.45

The Barany chair or Bárány chair, named for the Hungarian physiologist Bárány Róbert, is a device used for aerospace physiology training, particularly for student pilots.


The subject is placed in the chair, blindfolded, then spun about the vertical axis while keeping his head upright or tilted forward or to the side. The subject is then asked to perform tasks such as determine his direction of rotation while blindfolded, or rapidly change the orientation of his head, or attempt to point at a stationary object without blindfold after the chair is stopped. The chair is used to demonstrate spatial disorientation effects, proving that the vestibular system is not to be trusted in flight. Pilots are taught that they should instead rely on their flight instruments.


The device is also used in motion sickness therapy.

Nobel Prize[edit]

Bárány used this device in his ground-breaking research into the role of the inner ear in the sense of balance, which won him the 1914 Nobel prize.

See also[edit]