Naver 1784 demonstrates how robots can change the workplace landscape

The idea of robots replacing human workers is both the stuff of science fiction and, in some industries, an unavoidable reality. Fiction and media love to create drama and tension when it comes to advancements in robotics and AI that seem to be trained to mimic even the most artistic aspects of human creativity. Reality, however, is far less dramatic, and robots have a long way to go in putting office workers out of employment. Instead, robotics can actually help improve the quality of life of people in workplaces, and Naver’s new 1784 “technology convergence” building tries to serve as the blueprint for this harmonious kind of human and robot interaction.

Designer: Naver x SAMOO Architects & Engineers

Robot Helpers, not Usurpers

From the outside, Naver’s 1784 HQ looks like any other high-rise building. Located at 178-4 Jeongja-dong, where it partially gets its name, the online platform giant’s second and so far biggest HQ stands over a 165,000 sq. m. area and over 28 floors with eight underground floors. As they say, looks can be deceiving, and the 1784 is touted as the world’s first robot-friendly building while also being very human-friendly.

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The building houses the company’s latest and greatest R&D on robotics, AI, and the cloud, while also serving as sort of the testbed and showcase of these very technologies. Alongside thousands of humans, the 1784 also has around 100 robots under its employ, primarily designed to deliver packages to people inside the building, at least for now. While that purpose may sound trivial, the technology and infrastructure built to support this function are quite novel and still unique.

For example, the building houses what is perhaps the world’s first elevator built especially for robots, which means that the building’s architecture was designed with this in mind. And unlike the technology-loaded pizza or package delivery robots featured in the news, Naver’s little helpers are “brainless,” with a central control system named ARC (short for AI, Robot, Cloud) that is able to pinpoint the exact location of each robot and the path it needs to take inside the building.

Rather than the cold overlords that our imaginations think them to be, these robots are designed and programmed to make life more convenient for humans inside the workplace. There are even character robots inspired by LINE’s mascots that try to study how the presence of more familiar places can help boost morale or offer emotional support for humans that may be a little stressed over work.

New Normal

The Naver 1784 building isn’t just a convergence of technology due to being robot-friendly, though that’s definitely the highlight of its existence. Almost everywhere you go, you’ll find new and old technologies at work to improve the lives of people working inside, especially in a world forever changed by the recent pandemic. The Rookie delivery robots, for example, tries to reduce the risk of contamination by minimizing human contact when handing over packages.

The building is also equipped with CLOVA FaceSign technology that can recognize faces even while wearing masks. This simplifies authentication without having to require employees to touch surfaces with IDs or tags. Meeting rooms also have built-in AI and voice recognition, so you no longer have to worry about separate recording devices that you may forget to turn on at the start of a meeting.

Although construction started back in 2016, Naver and SAMOO had the foresight to design an advanced HVAC system that would have a critical impact in a post-pandemic world. As with any closed space with a single air handling unit, the chances of circulating contaminated air go higher. The 1784 has an independent outdoor air handling unit on each floor to minimize that risk, promising a disease control system almost on the same level as hospitals.

Going Green

Naver’s newest building isn’t just forward-looking because of the advanced technologies operating inside but also because of its attention to sustainability. With a hi-tech office that uses plenty of robots and computers to run the place, you’d presume that it consumes more power and has a higher carbon emission. Normally that would be the case, but the 1784 also employs several technologies to reduce its negative impact on the environment that goes beyond using solar panels and recycling rainwater water.

The building has a double skin wall, where a layer of glass windows is added to the outer wall. This creates a path for wind to flow and more effectively dissipate heat from sunlight. It is also the first high-rise building in the country to use radiant cooling, letting cold water flow through pipes inside floors and ceilings. All in all, these designs help cool the building without using more electricity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of work forever, making virtual meetings a staple in any business, big or small. At the same time, new sanitation practices are being implemented to avoid repeating the same mistakes of the pre-pandemic era. The Naver 1784 building takes these lessons to heart and uses a variety of technologies to create a conducive and healthy working environment. With robots, AI, and eco-friendly strategies, the building tries to show the way toward the human-centric, robot-friendly office of the future.

The post Naver 1784 demonstrates how robots can change the workplace landscape first appeared on Yanko Design.

Herman Miller’s latest office furniture range abandons the ‘cubicle’ and promotes social freedom

With changing times, social spaces need to change too… and it seems like Herman Miller has noticed that. As a world that’s slowly preparing to step out of their homes and go back to offices again, this unique window of time we’ve got is perfect to redefine productivity and how offices should look in this new future. Herman Miller’s OE1 series of furniture helps define the ‘new age’ office by creating a space that’s more conducive to co-working and socializing, instead of locking people in cubicles to make them more productive. The OE1 series brings an element of openness, dynamism, and fun to the workplace, giving it a unique facelift that definitely contrasts from the restrictive atmosphere created by working from home.

Short for Optimized Essentials, the OE1 range is “designed to help people experiment with space, discover what works in the moment, and change rapidly for the future”. It focuses on adaptability and on agility, by allowing modules to interconnect or separate, and work well both as a part of a team or as individual units… sort of like humans. The furniture elements can be scaled up, scaled down, or fine-tuned to create the workspace you need. Filled with basic forms and vibrant colors, the OE1 series has just the right amount of character to ad a minimalist yet vibrant touch to the workspace.

“The ideas behind OE1 predate COVID-19. The collection is the result of two years of development, driven by an international research project, in which the team interviewed everyone from office managers to sci-fi writers about the future of work. But as the collection came to a crest in 2020, amid a rise of remote work in response to the global pandemic, this future-forward design became a much more urgent one”, reports Fast Company.

“I often say with a mixture of pride and sorrow that Herman Miller invented the cubicle… probably envisioning a utopia, and it became something different,” says CEO of Herman Miller, Andi Owen. “We envision a future where [modular, flexible] furniture styles are the ones that are most dominant” Owen replies, indicating the demise of the restrictive cubicle, and the creation of what is referred to as an “unsystem” – or a series of individual elements that can be mixed and matched in a variety of ways, without ever really ‘going wrong’.

What’s immediately characteristic of the OE1 is that even as it creates separate, independent workspaces, it does so without putting the user in a bubble. People are still welcome to look each other in the eye, exchange pleasantries and ideas, and work as a collective whole instead of as individual cogs in a machine.

The Agile Wall [above and below] is a series of vertical panels that act as functional elements even serving as room dividers. The upper example showcases a wall-hung whiteboard that even has a soft-board attached to it, while below, a series of shelves helps functionally partition a space without visually creating a partition.

The OE1 series even relooks desks, with the Micro Pack [above] and a more traditional seating arrangement below. Each Micro Pack comes with an adjustable desk system, letting you choose between sitting and standing formats, while even organizing your cables into a central channel. Along with it all, the Micro Pack even lets you hang your bag or backpack on a hook placed right beneath the desk, so you don’t have to drop your purse on the ground when you sit at your desk.

For more traditional sitting desks, you’ve got OE1 Storage Trolleys that nest nicely under them, allowing you to cut the clutter on your table yet still have all your stuff at hand. The trolleys can be moved around as you shift workspaces, and can even be turned into stools by popping a seat on top, so you can have a quick conversation with your colleagues without dragging your chair around.

Ultimately, with the OE1 series, Herman Miller aims at building up the workplace by breaking it down. Plagued by the ‘cubicle culture’ that they themselves created, the OE1 is Herman Miller’s way of going back to the drawing board and redefining creativity and productivity in a way that is less bound by rules and is more accommodating of diverse work cultures. In a rather bittersweet way, it also takes into account the fact that workplaces may see downsizing, budget cuts, and migration to smaller office spaces. With the modular design of the OE1 and those innovative Micro Packs, Herman Miller hopes to create a workplace that fits ‘more into less’ while still “making [the workplace] as comfortable as possible.”

Designers: Herman Miller in collaboration with Kim Colin and Sam Hecht

Mouse Designs that will elevate every gadget lover’s desktop: Part 2

Traditionally speaking, a computer mouse does not get enough attention to the visual impact these gadgets can make to our setup. Sure, we look for productive designs and most of them refer to a mass of specifications that can be read off a chart, but not many speak to the aesthetic and material qualifications of a mouse – whether the elements used in that mouse are sustainable, ethically sourced. Another question is whether these designs can go beyond a simple pointer? Those are the questions asked and answered in this list of intriguing and well-designed mice that show the care and consideration put in by the product designers to make these mice stand out from the usual mass of black that floods your desk!

The Ice Mouse comes with a bamboo upper that promotes breathability, making sure your palms don’t work up a sweat with hours of use. The bamboo component is CNC machined from a layered block of bamboo plies, doing a pretty remarkable job of showcasing the wood-grain while remaining entirely unique in its grain pattern. Some may say it almost reflects the uniqueness of the fingers and palm that rest on it! Sitting underneath it is the aluminum base, giving your fingers a metallic surface to hug and sort of complementing the feeling of typing on an aluminum-constructed MacBook.

Usually, users experience the inconvenience of wrist pain, stiff fingers, or aching finger joints when using the traditional mouse. The weight and shape of the mouse initially don’t seem worth investing in for the user till these issues arise and that is what the designer, Ihjoo Yoon, wanted to address through the Ring mouse. The PC market continues to grow and it means the need for an ergonomic lightweight mouse like this ring exists stronger than before as people take more notice of their health and well-being. The ring mouse’s design works intuitively, it reacts to the movements of the fingertips and does not interfere with the natural movement of the wrist since it is a wearable ring. Due to its unique shape for a mouse, it makes the experience smoother while reducing the stress on your wrists as it won’t be awkwardly bent at an angle for hours!

Taking inspiration from an iconic chapter in furniture design, Shane Chen envisioned the Lounge Mouse, a hat-tip to Ray and Charles Eames’ Lounge Chair. The Lounge Mouse follows the form and visual direction of the ottoman footrest that comes along with the chair. The base of the mouse is made from bent plywood, while the upper half is an incredibly soft leather-clad with a scroll-wheel in its upper center.

The CheerPod is a tiny, handheld device that boils the mouse down to its essentials. With a design that’s dictated by the need to be small and remote-like, the CheerPod is to mice what smartphones are to landlines – Portable, rectangular, and heavily feature-laden. It comes with an infrared sensor on its base, like all wireless mice, allowing you to drag your cursor by moving the physical device, but it also allows you to mimic gestures by swiping across screens in mobile and desktop interfaces. The CheerPod, unlike most wireless mice, works without a receiver, connecting directly to laptops, desktops, tablets, and even phones using Bluetooth.

Designed for kids with ADHD, or anyone with a quirky sense of style, this computer mouse aims at giving you a tech accessory that’s unconventionally fun to interact with! The Hoglet is a wireless mouse modeled on a hedgehog, with a silicone sleeve around its grip with multiple bristles that come in contact with your hand as you grip it. The objective of the Hoglet is to do multiple things. For starters, it makes tech feel a little less scary and a little more approachable. The mouse is incredibly tactile and comes in heartwarming colors. Its silicone texture aims at creating a new sort of experience that almost seems pet-like, reinforcing the mouse-ness of the mouse, and helps boost focus and reduce anxiety.

Designed as a juxtaposition between classic and modern, this mouse, created by Daniel Jansson for 8BitDo transforms a hallmark of console gaming into a neat, functional mouse that’s a sheer tactile joyride! The wireless mouse comes with clear-cut lines that you’d imagine wouldn’t be comfortable, but actually do feel familiar. It features classic NES controller-style red left and right-click buttons, resting on a black platform which is, in fact, a touch-sensitive scroller. To complete this whacky/adorable mouse’s design, Janssen incorporated a D-Pad on the side, that can be controlled via your thumb.

The EXOvault Mouse was developed by the artist, engineer, designer, and overall maker Jonathan Schipper. Designed as an exercise to visually reinvent something mundane, something we take for granted, the mouse was developed at EXOvault’s facility in Brooklyn and it doesn’t just look great, but feels great too. It has weight, which allows you to command the cursor with confidence, while the clickers and scroll wheels provide a wonderfully smooth tactile feedback. With a PixArt 3000cpi sensor that works on glass and a 500mAh battery, the EXOvault mouse performs well too, giving you superior functionality and aesthetic unconventionality in a singular package that guarantees to make you instantly want to ditch your plastic mouse or trackpad!

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The designers at BKID took the literal connotation of a computer ‘mouse’ and embodied its characterful persona into the Balance Mouse! During the day the mouse works like any other computer mouse, letting the user go about pursuing their tasks. However, when the clock strikes ‘home time’, the mouse exits the body and humourlessly rolls away. Not only is this a visual indicator that the workday is over, but it’s also pretty difficult to use a computer without a mouse!

The Manta Mouse by Alberto Aguado Baudil takes inspiration from the Manta Ray, with its wide, stingray-inspired design. At the very center is a bulbous volume forms the bulk of the mouse, the part your palm rests on, while the rest of the mouse skirts around the side. This side-skirt essentially works as a cushion for the base of your palm, promising to give your hand a comfortable place to rest as you operate the mouse

Shattering the mouse-design-archetype in glorious fashion, the Cubic mouse takes on a less ergonomics-driven design approach and a more, dare I say, cubist one. The Cubic Wireless Mouse concept by Kim Hyunsoec (yes it’s a concept and not a real one, so calm down) comes with a hexagonal design and uses bright colors… something you’d agree most mice don’t really do. Rather than being designed as a peripheral for your computer, the Cubic Mouse takes on the appearance of a jewel that you’d be proud to keep on your desk. With a 3D pattern on the top, the mouse cleverly tells you how to use it. The buttons lie right under the majority of lines pointing in the same direction, divided equally between the left and right-click.

For more productivity-enhancing gadgets or just to add more pizzazz to your desk, check our collection of innovative product designs!

Keyboard designs that improve ergonomics in your workplace: Part 2

Using a keyboard is universal – touchscreens and smartphones have brought this tool to almost every fingertip. What often surprises me is the innovation behind this humble design that was first invented in 1876! The QWERTY layout we type away on is over a century old and remains a trusted format whereas what has changed are the things we can do other than just typing on our keyboard. Keyboards are now the portable go-between your trusted typing accessory to everything you need on your machine – it doubles as a USB hub or even has sliding compartments that are notepads or Num pads to be used as needed – whatever your problem, we have a keyboard design that solves it!

Say hello to the Kolude KD-K1 by Jeremy Lin, a sleek external keyboard with a pretty interesting twist. With circular keys that sit within a machined aluminum base giving it a neo-retro vibe, the Kolude KD-K1 keyboard is a visual treat with tactile scissor-switch keys that make it a great keyboard to type on too. Built right into the back-face of the KD-K1 is a USB hub, complete with USB-A and USB-C ports, an HDMI port, and two card-reader slots. Designed to be the Swiss-Army-Knife of keyboards, the Kolude KD-K1 makes sure you’ll never have to bend over and reach behind a CPU to plug a pen-drive in again. Connect it to your laptop or desktop using the USB-C port and the KD-K1 comes alive with a myriad of possibilities. The multitude of ports allows you to maximize productivity by connecting drives, devices, displays, or cards to your main computer, right through the keyboard.

As a reflex, we always tend to frantically search for a notepad to jot down a number, address, meeting feedback, last-minute lists, or notes during a class. To integrate this existing behavior with the technology we already use, designer Jeong Woo Kim created Ouverture – a conceptual keyboard accessory that is a number pad + a digital notepad when you flip the cover. It has a typing mode which is the number pad and a memo mode which is the writing pad. “The leather cover acts as a number pad on a conventional keyboard. Current from the fingertips passes through the special conductive fiber to the touchpad inside the leather cover,” explains Kim.

We love seeing concepts that challenge our perception of the future of technology by forcing us to rethink how we will one day interact with devices. Aura by Vince Wang certainly achieves this, and it does so by transforming the humble laptop into an ultra-portable, productivity station! So, you may be asking yourself how it functions without a screen, well that’s all down to the rather clever Eye-tracking Infrared Illuminators that locate eye-details and reflection patterns to project the image directly onto the user’s retinas! The futuristic technology doesn’t end there; in addition to the lack of screen, there is also concave keyboard with Glow Thru keys that’s been paired with an adaptive input service for maximum productivity!

You can find all of Photoshop’s commonly used tools in the key-layout, along with quick-access keys for undoing and redoing, as well as for saving and opening files. There are even custom-mappable knobs for controlling features such as brush sizes, hardness, or even for zooming in/out. The keyboard can be mapped as per your requirements, and for people who don’t want something this elongated (that’s not what she said), there’s even a smaller, square-shaped Numpad-esque keyboard with a few extra buttons that unlock more features… and while products like Loupedeck’s Creative Tool exist, it’s nice knowing that this particular variant, created by Etsy-maker 3dDecors, is close to 5 times cheaper. Forget the MacBook and its Touch Bar, just buy me this slim custom keyboard and I’ll be on my way.

Vinicius Araújo has designed a gorgeous keyboard to aid in the transition between each Adobe program, saving the user hours of switching between Photoshop to Indesign to Illustrator to Lightroom. Accented with stylish LED colors and eye-catching material changes, the Adobe Keyboard is the designers’ must-have.

The Red Dot Design Concept 2020 ‘Best of Best’ award-winning Logitech Ultra combines the best of both worlds. At first glance, the device looks like a touch-screen product, which allows you to swipe between windows, including a calendar/to-do list, a virtual meeting room, or various keyboard interfaces. The screen has IR-Cameras built-in, which tracks users’ finger gestures across the surface. This finger-tracking ability is similar to the controls on a smartphone or tablet. Underneath the touch screen lies a bed of small press-able points that give you the haptic feedback of a keyboard without the limitations of a specific keyboard arrangement. Basically, any point on the tablet’s surface can function as a key.

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Having a visually harmonious, intuitive, and efficient set of tech accessories allows the user to keep all devices and peripherals charged and in sync at all times – its the same calm you experience when you start your day on a clean, organized desk! Link is a collection of essential computer accessories that are integrated to work together to optimize functionality for the user right from wireless charging devices to compact input devices. “The goal of this project was to design an ecosystem of peripherals that aims to deliver an experience that is customizable, easy to use, and adaptable to the computer users’ needs at a moment’s notice,” says the designer. So no more scampering around for a certain jack if you have to plug in a non-Apple device or having a network of cables that just take up more space + energy!

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The Off keyboard by Marko Oljaca comes with soft, rounded keys that are elevated on independent “stems” rather than recessed into a solid surface. Not only easy to clean, but it also prevents the buildup of dirt and residue. Better yet, its seamless design makes it spill-proof and water-resistant. Its organic form is also ergonomically adapted to maximize wrist comfort.

South Korean product designer Cheolsu Park designed ‘Slide’. Slide is a keyboard that doubles up as a tablet. A combination of a keyboard and tablet, Slide, as its name implies comes with a ‘sliding’ element. The tablet can be easily pulled out or pushed in, enabling it to hide sneakily below the keyboard. With two products being packed into one, space is efficiently saved, bringing the usual clutter of your desk to a minimum. When you’re only using the keyboard, the tablet snugly remains a part of it. Park added a lock button to the product, pressing it prevents the keyboard from sliding up and down, keeping it firmly in position. The edges of the product have been centered using a weighty material, ensuring that the product does not tilt in its extended form, especially when you’re typing on the keyboard.

Most Bluetooth keyboards aren’t equipped with a number pad. On the other hand, they are extremely space-efficient. And there comes in Yeong Seok Go’s ‘Hidekey’. But Hidekey has a secret! Its number pad is in hiding. Tucked away on the backside of the keyboard, a quick sliding movement reveals the number pad. The pad can be easily pulled out whenever needed. Once it has been used, you can effortlessly slide it back in. This ensures you always have a number pad at your disposal, improving the efficiency of your work, without taking up too much space.

Check out more products designed to amp up your productivity here!

Work from home product designs that are the best investments of 2020!

As I write this article, I am acutely aware that 2020 is entering its last quarter! The year has certainly flown by, but the new workflow implemented this year is here to stay. Remote working is no longer a trend and all of us who have been avoiding investing in creating our own workspace, well it’s high time for us to start shopping and we have the best designs curated to improve your shopping experience! Depending on your space to your budget, the designs featured here include your personal cabins to easy to setup partitions that are sure to improve your productivity and allow you to focus on your work, distraction-free!

The Zen Work Pod by Autonomous is perfect because in 2020 you don’t need a shed in your backyard, you rather have a warm minimalist office instead! The company behind this work shed has been acing the game when it comes to well-designed office furniture like flexible desks and ergonomic chairs. The Zen Work Pod was a culmination of their furniture design mission clubbed with the need of the hour. The minimalist backyard structure is a stark contrast to the existing toolsheds, it is a modern workspace equipped with all essentials needed for a ‘zen’ workday. “It provides a fresh solution that completely redefines the home office, providing maximum focus during every working hour,” says the team who especially kept creators and freelancers in mind while designing it. The pod features floor-to-ceiling windows and an angular roof all wrapped in a sturdy oak, walnut, and aluminum structure. It is compact but the minimal build and sweeping windows make it feel spacious.

The Zero Gravity Balans chair was designed by Peter Opsvik to be a blend of relaxation and productivity. It is the vision of what a modern chair should be – multifunctional and aesthetically pleasing. What sets this chair apart is that it has no mechanical adjustment parts, it is made to be so ergonomic that your body movements dictate its positions. You can choose to adjust it at four different angles which gives you room to be flexible with your posture and the chair to mold itself according to the space it is set in. You can sit in whatever position that is comfortable to you from kneeling to the fully reclined – one works for Netflix party and one for working from home.

 

Igor Leal’s Sunken Studio is another unique design to add to that list, it was made to keep you away from the everyday disturbances by giving you a sleek subterranean workspace. Also, you can get creative with your ‘roof’ – will you like to have a picnic lunch or play golf? The 500 square foot studio concept was a custom solution requested by a client in Rio De Janeiro who wanted a fully functioning workspace that he could spend long hours in. That is why it features a sitting area, kitchenette, bathroom, and desk area. This is a modern, compact office that allows you to host small conferences, do video calls, and meet clients without any interference. Also, once you are in the zone you don’t have to come up above ground for small things like a snack or bathroom break.

Ikaria Design Co’s Soul Seat helps you sit in a neutral posture which is effortless and comfortable. The springs on the elevated perch tilt the pelvis forward, open the hips and help align the spine. You can sit in several positions if crossing legs isn’t comfortable for you, the chair enables you to switch between multiple positions frequently keeping your body engaged and blood flowing. For some, this may also alleviate neck and back pain! The height of both levels can be adjusted to suit your workspace setup. I know there were many comments from our Instagram audience about it missing a backrest and while I don’t think it causes harm if you sit without one (people meditate and work in this very posture for hours in Asian countries), I do think having an option of a detachable backrest can help those who are just starting to work on their posture ease into it.

The Fitwork was designed by Brian Oaks, a designer, and entrepreneur who ended up needing chiropractic adjustments and even back surgery because of this sedentary lifestyle. Fitwork’s design sort of embodies a no-excuse mentality to being fit. Whether it’s the excuse of ‘being too busy’, or of ‘not wanting to go all the way to the gym’, Fitwork combats it by bringing the gym not just to your house, but to your workspace. Designed as a product to let you work and work out at the same time, this crazy hybrid of a desk-chair and treadmill keeps your legs active while you work. Whether you’re sitting in front of a laptop or standing in front of one, it’s the sedentary lifestyle that Fitwork tackles. The setup (which is sure to grab a few eyeballs) comes with an office chair attached to a treadmill underneath, and an elliptical in front. Coupled with an elevating desk, the Fitwork allows you to keep the lower half of your body active while you work, giving you cardio as well as keeping your spine engaged, whether you’re sitting or standing while working. While you’re sitting, your legs naturally rest on the Fitwork’s elliptical, allowing you to pedal away while typing out emails or attending zoom calls without really anyone knowing what a fitness buff you are.

Made so that it can be the extra room your house needs (now that everyone’s stuck indoors), the Hello Wood Studio’s Workstation Cabin is an insulated and soundproof room that can easily serve as a “workstation, a meeting room, a kids playroom, and a perfect hiding place if you are looking for a quiet space to read, relax and exercise”, according to the designers. After work hours, the cabin could even be converted into a makeshift bedroom for a night-out among the stars, or even for guests! Hello Wood Studios built the private retreat with the ability to later add extra features like heating/cooling, mood-lighting, in-built sound system, TV-screen, and WiFi setup, and can be assembled on your lawn/backyard or even on a terrace!

The Livit Studypod is a futuristic black-box style cube that you can place anywhere you want and focus on your work, study, or even health! This composite cube structure works as your bedroom, home office, or study table and is designed for outdoor use. Easy to place on your backyard, garden, or anywhere with a view, the black-tinted hardened glass window gives an unobstructed view of your scenery. Since the cube is a closed structure, it keeps you safe from the weather across the year. Measuring 2.15 x 1.8 x 2.1 meters, this cube is perfectly sized for you to style it for your comfort, improving your headspace and keeping you stress-free. The pod does weigh 700 kilos but it also comes with optional wheels that let you move it and settle down for a quick change of scenery! The pod has oak flooring, a detachable desk, a power outlet, four downlights, and natural ventilation to keep the place airy.

Cose is a multifunctional neck massager that relieves pain without painkillers using 6 different technologies. It features EMS + TENS technology along with infrared therapy and thermotherapy to work on your muscles. EMS (Electrical Muscle Stimulation) helps Cose imitate the natural signals that come from the central nervous system which make the neck muscles contract for better flexibility and strength. TENS (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), on the other hand, delivers small electrical impulses through the skin to flood the nervous system, reducing pain by stimulating your body to produce endorphins, our natural pain relievers.

Our modern lifestyle involves us being stationary in one position for long hours which is unhealthy and Pluching was created as an organic solution that brings more movement! The time spent sitting in one place has increased so much ever since the pandemic began because all we do is work from home and then watch Netflix at home. This can cause turtle neck syndrome, shoulder pain, back pain, and unhealthy stiffness which you can minimize using stretching equipment like Pluching. Heesuk Lee’s idea was to design exercise equipment that gives the effect of band exercise and stretching but could clip-on on the back of your chair for ease. Pluching uses a powerful neodymium magnet that is embedded in a silicon clip to secure the equipment and give you stability.

Panasonic has designed a simple solution to draw boundaries between work and play without taking up too much space with their Komoru cubicle and I need to order two when they launch on September 18th, 2020! The Japanese brand has infused this mini cubicle with simple details that help you work efficiently while not adding visual bulk to your interior space. Working from home has had many of us come up with creative ways to stay productive –  this Komoru cubicle saves your time and effort. You can easily assemble the desk and partition at home which are the two main structural components. Unlike a traditional office cubicle, this is four feet tall which allows you to see over the partition walls while still sitting at your desk.

Once you create your home working space, here are some desk setup inspirations to help you create your dream setup!

Zoom calls are coming to Amazon, Google and Facebook smart displays

Zoom has just announced that its “Zoom for Home” video conferencing platform is coming to Amazon’s Echo Show line, Google’s smart displays plus Facebook’s Portal devices. Zoom will arrive on Portal in September, while it’s slated to be available on t...

This self-isolating fold-out work-cubicle turns any wall into a safe workspace

Far be it for us to really even think of going back to offices this year, but this time poses a pretty interesting challenge in reimagining workspaces. Prasad Ghodke, for starters, has a solution that helps easily turn boring walls into pop-out cubicles that are carefully distanced and separated from each other using fold-out partitions. Designed to help maximize space, occupy a small footprint, and more importantly be safe, the Pandemic Work Desk Concept (the name may sound more somber than intended) fits right into a wall, occupying practically no floor real-estate. Designed to retrofit into any wall, the Pandemic Work Desk Concept helps turn regular spaces into workspaces. Be it a small room in your home, a coworking space, or just anywhere in a coffee-shop… the Pandemic Work Desk Concept is a simple, full-featured working zone that opens up in mere minutes, and folds flat into the wall when you’re done.

The clever, foldable work-desk comes with a flexible chair and 180° table that gives you space to place your laptop, a couple of desk accessories, and even a cup of coffee/tea by your side. A small pocket on the side lets you store items you may need to access later like a pocket-book or some pens, and fold-out blinds on both sides give you the ability to instantly turn your space into a private zone, allowing you to bury yourself in your work and effectively distance from people working beside you. All you effectively need is a face-mask and WiFi!

Designer: Prasad Ghodke

Mouse Designs that will elevate every gadget lover’s desktop!

We are accustomed to being constantly exposed to stimulus…be it shopping, Netflix, Instagram, or the tons of other attention-stealing activities that rule our day, attention is the currency these days and we have been too busy looking and being lost in all these until we were quarantined. Being limited in our space and exposure, we have come to see and appreciate the objects we own. Everyday common designs such as the humble mouse are such a part of our routine, we never really see how we could differentiate in them! In come the designers who took it up as a challenge to make the best of this gadget. From environmentally conscious design, a Charles Eames inspired design to a mouse design that runs away from you when your working hours are over, there is a mouse design you never knew you wanted but now that you see it, you surely won’t be able to stay without it!

The Ice Mouse comes with a bamboo upper that promotes breathability, making sure your palms don’t work up a sweat with hours of use. The bamboo component is CNC machined from a layered block of bamboo plies, doing a pretty remarkable job of showcasing the wood-grain while remaining entirely unique in its grain pattern. Some may say it almost reflects the uniqueness of the fingers and palm that rest on it! Sitting underneath it is the aluminum base, giving your fingers a metallic surface to hug and sort of complementing the feeling of typing on an aluminum-constructed MacBook.

Taking inspiration from an iconic chapter in furniture design, Shane Chen envisioned the Lounge Mouse, a hat-tip to Ray and Charles Eames’ Lounge Chair. The Lounge Mouse follows the form and visual direction of the ottoman footrest that comes along with the chair. The base of the mouse is made from bent plywood, while the upper half is an incredibly soft leather-clad with a scroll-wheel in its upper center.

Inspired by the formation the hand makes during a natural handshake, Logitech’s MX Vertical wants to be the chunky mouse your hand falls in love with. Tilting at an angle of 57° off the horizontal plane that is your table, the MX Vertical feels halfway between a mouse and a joystick. It can be held onto for hours, being maneuvered without strain, and is even easy on your wrist too, shifting the movement from side-side to up-down.

The EXOvault Mouse was developed by the artist, engineer, designer, and overall maker Jonathan Schipper. Designed as an exercise to visually reinvent something mundane, something we take for granted, the mouse was developed at EXOvault’s facility in Brooklyn and it doesn’t just look great, but feels great too. It has weight, which allows you to command the cursor with confidence, while the clickers and scroll wheels provide a wonderfully smooth tactile feedback. With a PixArt 3000cpi sensor that works on glass and a 500mAh battery, the EXOvault mouse performs well too, giving you superior functionality and aesthetic unconventionality in a singular package that guarantees to make you instantly want to ditch your plastic mouse or trackpad!

The designers at BKID took the literal connotation of a computer ‘mouse’ and embodied its characterful persona into the Balance Mouse! During the day the mouse works like any other computer mouse, letting the user go about pursuing their tasks. However, when the clock strikes ‘home time’, the mouse exits the body and humourlessly rolls away. Not only is this a visual indicator that the workday is over, but its also pretty difficult to use a computer without a mouse!

The Manta Mouse by Alberto Aguado Baudil takes inspiration from the Manta Ray, with its wide, stingray-inspired design. At the very center is a bulbous volume that forms the bulk of the mouse, the part your palm rests on, while the rest of the mouse skirts around the side. This side-skirt essentially works as a cushion for the base of your palm, promising to give your hand a comfortable place to rest as you operate the mouse.

Admittedly, the name Alienware AV610M doesn’t roll off the tongue easily, but the device corresponding to the name looks like an absolute beast. With a form that truly looks like a UFO, complete with wings and even LED lights glowing ominously on the inside, the AV610M lets you dominate your virtual battlefield… with 350-hours of battery time, no less. The rechargeable gaming mouse comes with 7 fully programmable buttons and a 16,000 DIP precision sensor to give you a solid edge over your competition.

Designed as a juxtaposition between classic and modern, the N30 mouse created by Daniel Jansson for 8BitDo transforms a hallmark of console gaming into a neat, functional mouse that’s a sheer tactile joyride! The mouse originated as a concept created by Janssen in 2009, only becoming a reality this year after 8BitDo really saw promise in it. The wireless mouse comes with clear-cut lines that you’d imagine wouldn’t be comfortable, but actually do feel familiar. It features classic NES controller-style red left and right-click buttons, resting on a black platform which is, in fact, a touch-sensitive scroller. To complete this whacky/adorable mouse’s design, Janssen incorporated a D-Pad on the side, that can be controlled via your thumb. The D-Pad provides an extra layer of functionality to the mouse, allowing you to perform PageUp, PageDown, Home, and End commands with a single click.

The Samsung Mouse by BKID comes with a compact, telescopic/collapsible design. A matte plastic outer sleeve holds the small electronic mouse module on the inside. This works just fine because plastic feels good to touch (honestly, the metal feel is overrated. I choose comfort over premium) and therefore comes right under your palm while the electronic part slides outwards, manifesting itself under your fingers. The entire design is arc-shaped, giving it a definitive curve that allows for easy gripping (bulky), but when the mouse collapses into itself, it becomes half in curvature, almost becoming a sleek, flat, highly carry-able computer peripheral!

Made of a soft Silica Gel, the body of Tube by Tim Chen is soft and malleable, making the mouse far more adjustable than its hard-bodied competitors. This, combined with its symmetrical design ensures that is can be used by both right and left-handed individuals, this is something that ergonomic computer mice often cannot cater for. Packed into the squishy exterior is a light that, much like the night light it was inspired by, gently glows, giving Tube a second use!