Japanese designer Tonomy Sayuda explains it as follows:
I believe that human buttocks are one of the less discussed and focused part of human body. In this “iBum†project, I would like to reveal the visual of this less popular part of body without notice. The chair reveals human unconsciousness and reality. When audience sit down on the chair, a scanner on the top of chair start to scan people`s buttocks automatically. Then the scanned image is printed out from the right hand side of the chair. A sensor is detecting people`s existence all the time. So people will not realize the existence of the scanner. Without notice, the photocopy of the bum will arrive next to the chair.
I believe it’s a hilarious mirror for humanity. She must have been inspired by Yoko Ono who in the sixties produced her famous buttocks film.
Via Gizmag. They comment rightfully that around christmas and maybe also around April’s Fool Day in the Western world the usual office prank is to copy once butt with the danger of ending up with a butt full of glass splinters. Thus the designer’s assumption is not completely right!