Wing chairs are back. Not that they ever really flew off and left. The wing chair, or wingback as it is also known, has for many years been a classic in interior design around the world.

Originally designed in the 18th century to protect the sitter from drafts, it has continued to be popular even though central heating has all but eliminated concerns about staying warm.

The design has been developed, however, and it is no longer simply a high-backed, upholstered easy chair with wing-shaped side projections or panels flaring outward at head level.

For $14,400, you can now buy a version that allows you to sink into the chair after a hard day’s work and make you feel weightless.

Featured on www.trendhunter.com, the Zero Gravity Wing Chair is upholstered with “open cell visco elastic memory foam, a material developed by Nasa and used in all the spacecrafts” to enhance the experience of sitting in the seat. The concept is similar to that of the foam pillow that adjusts to the sleeper’s head as it warms up.

“It is a futuristic reinterpretation of the classic wing chair,” says Elena Bertinetto, co-owner of www.deeplymadlyliving.com, an interiors website that sells the chair. “The foam adapts perfectly to your body shape and temperature, leaving you in cosmic comfort.”

She says the chair takes the traditional Eames Lounge wing chair, designed more than 50 years ago, in a new direction. “The foam moulds to your body’s contours and you might just be able to imagine weightlessness as you nod off,” Bertinetto says.

However, the design means that these chairs are quite large – they need to be big enough for someone to curl up in – and so they can be very disruptive to the design of a room. While this is fine for those with very large homes, the rest of us can just hope that airline seats might adopt the design.