KI, a Wisconsin furniture maker, has taken the top honor at Best of NeoCon 2026: the Best of Competition award for Cognetic Technology, a patented, gravity-responsive seating system invented by Aaron DeJule that the company describes as working continuously in harmony with the body's natural micro-movements while seated. The awards were announced on June 8, 2026.
What exactly won at NeoCon 2026?
The Best of Competition title went to Cognetic Technology, exhibited inside KI's Kiaura Collection at the fair. According to KI's June 8 press release, the company earned seven Best of NeoCon honors in total: Best of Competition plus Innovation and Gold awards in the Integrated Technology category, and Gold awards in Seating: Ergonomic Task, Seating: Sofas + Lounge, Seating: Conference, and Lounge Furniture Collections. Both the technology and the Kiaura Collection were invented or designed by Aaron DeJule and are manufactured exclusively by KI.
The technology itself is the story. KI describes Cognetic as a gravity-responsive innovation with no levers or tilt mechanisms, developed from the idea, in chief sales and marketing officer Tony Besasie's words, that seating should adapt naturally to people instead of asking people to adapt to seating. For a reader choosing a lounge chair or a sofa, that claim translates into a simple test: does the chair move with a shift in weight, or does it resist it?
Why does a workplace furniture award matter at home?
NeoCon is a contract-furniture fair, but its seating categories have long leaked into residential design, and this year's scale shows why the results carry weight. As Officeinsight reported, the 2026 competition drew 274 entries from 97 exhibitors, with 71 products recognized across 42 categories. Jurors praised the winning technology for encouraging natural movement, saying it moves with the body and how a sitter wants to move, and adding that they were excited to see the technology specified on projects.
The overlap with home furnishing is direct in the award list itself: the Sofas + Lounge and Lounge Furniture Collections categories sit beside task and conference seating, and the same makers, including Andreu World and Davis Furniture, sell into both markets. A gravity-powered mechanism honored in Chicago typically reaches residential lines within a few seasons.
Which other products were recognized?
The Best of Competition shortlist, as documented by Officeinsight, sketches the year's material preoccupations: recycled rubber, acoustic paneling, and solid-wood conference seating.
| Product | Maker | Recognition |
|---|---|---|
| Cognetic Technology / Kiaura Collection | KI | Best of Competition; seven awards |
| VESPER | HALCON | Best of Competition finalist |
| Truchet | Impact Acoustic | Best of Competition finalist |
| Onda | Model No. | Best of Competition finalist |
| Hero Rubber (made with Nike Grind) | Mohawk Group | Best of Competition finalist |
| Fusion Conference Table | Andreu World | Best of Competition finalist |
| ALMA Collection | WVH | Best of Competition finalist |
KI's Besasie called the recognition a defining moment for the future of workplace seating design. Whether or how the mechanism reaches living rooms, the award documents a direction worth watching: seating that adjusts itself, quietly, while the sitter simply sits.
