Back in January 2020, when the interiors of the Olympic village were first unveiled, the sustainable low-carbon beds immediately grabbed attention. They weren’t your normal-looking beds, in fact, they looked a little more ‘recycled’ than usual; because they were. The Japanese had made it abundantly clear that they were going to focus on keeping the Olympics as environmentally friendly as possible. The medals would be made from recycled metal, the Olympic torch was fabricated from pipes previously used in temporary refugee housing during Japan’s deadly earthquake and tsunami in 2011. The beds in the Olympic village too, were crafted from high-resistance cardboard that could easily take on weights of up to 200 kilos… fine for one occupant, maybe not for two. Back then, the design was hailed as a champion of sustainability with a low carbon footprint. Now, it’s a critical design feature that’s helping keep athletes safe by being a social deterrent.
It’s not entirely clear where the rumor began, but like everything viral on the internet, the ‘anti-sex bed’ theory started somewhere on social media. It’s no secret that the Olympics are also an incredibly social event for the athletes, to put it mildly (type ‘Olympic village’ into a Google search bar, and the suggestion invariably recommends ‘condom’). While the beds aren’t “anti-sex” per-se, Tokyo officials seem to be pretty glad that athletes are a little thrown off by the fact that their beds are made of ‘cardboard’. As Japan is dealing with a coronavirus health crisis (much like the rest of the world), it just seems like common sense to not want the athletes to intermingle (2 athletes already tested positive with 21 more kept in isolation). That said, it seems like Airweave – the designers behind the cardboard bed and the recyclable mattress that goes on top of it – isn’t amused at people trolling their high-quality furniture. “Cardboard beds are actually stronger than the one made of wood or steel,” Airweave said in a statement!
Your bed is the ultimate comfy cocoon that you want to be ideally perfect – depending on what you actually want from this most vital furniture piece in the home. Our needs as a species have changed, hence, we all need a bed that brings the practical application of technology to arm’s length. Meet the Duoo Bed designed by Andrei Mogila for Zegen which brings a pragmatic approach to winding down after a long day’s work.
The aesthetically crafted furniture piece combines minimalism, smoothness and geometry of lines to appeal to anyone. Duoo is the result of prime attention to detail when it comes to design aesthetics. Usability-wise, the bed brings the convenience of charging mobile devices or battery banks right from the headboard. Plus it has dedicated led night lights on each side for late-night readers which bring the convenience of privacy without bothering your mate.
Keeping comfort and visual neatness at the core, Andrei has managed to strike the right balance of form and function. For me this bed will bring the convenience of reading my favorite content in a very personalized way with the added utility of keeping my phone juiced for the morning. I just hate to look for the charger in the morning hustle, and the Duoo Bed will take at least one worry off of my mind!
As per its annual tradition, LG Display is preparing to show off some new display tech demos for CES 2021, with the latest focus set on showing where transparent OLED may fit in the pandemic age. The Korean company is setting up a few physical demos...
I have never wanted to use my position at Yanko Design to review products in person before seeing this bed. Pandemic or no pandemic, we can all agree that this is the ultimate bed just like its name states – the Hariana Tech Smart Ultimate Bed!
The $2800 price tag is justified with a myriad of features that make it perfect for a weekend in or even work from home – let’s be honest, they both feel the same right now. You now we always have to get up to get stuff before we settle into relax mode? Well, this bed was designed to have everything you will need to relax within your bed frame. It has an integrated reclining massage chair with a remote, a built-in Bluetooth speaker, a bookshelf, a reading lamp, an air cleaning system, an area to plug-in and charge your devices, a foot-stool that opens up for extra storage and a pop-up desk for the ultimate WFH setup, Netflix marathon or cozy reading hours. The sound system also features and SD card slot, an auxiliary port and a USB port. Another interesting detail about the Hariana bed is a password-protected safe box for you to store your most precious belongings – for me it would be my passport and snacks!
The Hariana Tech Smart Ultimate bed is something straight out of Spy Kids and I say that with utmost appreciation for both. The only thing I would add is a coffee maker so I can go from binge watching to office hours seamlessly.
If you’ve ever followed the Japanese anime series Doraemon, you know that the robotic cat’s primary means of transportation is a rather silly looking time machine. While we humans may never get a chance to take a ride to other points in time, your cat is ready to go right now.
The guys at Japanese department store Felissimo have teamed up with Doraemon creators Fujiko Fujio to make this plush cat bed that looks just like the time machine from the series. Your kitty will enjoy playing with the cockpit controls, which can send them on an adventure to the past, future, or points unknown. That’s assuming it doesn’t break down as often as Doraemon’s machine does.
The time machine cat bed sells for ¥9790, or about $94 USD. That’s a small price to pay to send your cat somewhere far away when they’re trying to walk on your keyboard while you’re trying to type.
To fall asleep at night, I imagine my bed turning into a hammock, swinging somewhere on a sandy beach. It typically does the trick, but when it doesn’t, I can usually chalk it up to my anxiety or sleep apnea. Receiving 2020’s James Dyson Award, Nocturnal, designed by Alexander Braga, is an interactive sleeping aid that specifically aims to help insomnia sufferers. With user-defined technological and personalized features, this design solution makes restful sleep possible. On this point, Braga says, “Nocturnal combines both digital and beautiful design, language and form to improve sleep quality for insomniacs as a sustainable solution for the future.”
Surrounding the bed is an OLED, a film of an organic compound, emitting light, which bridges digital solutions with the human experience. The OLED screen is the sleeping aid’s primary charm and uses rollable, flexible technology in order to envelop the top half of your body and project images from the depths of your most peaceful, relaxing imagination. By promoting the beneficial and curated use of Artificial Intelligence, stressors such as anxiety and depression can be managed. Through research and conducted interviews, Alexander Braga concluded, “Dreams have always fascinated me and I wanted to add this celestial component, in combination with beautiful aesthetics to completely change the way we as humans sleep. I had looked into current bed sizes, ergonomic considerations through interaction and resting positions, and sustainable material selections. Once I achieved a better understanding of traditional sleeping habits, I looked into accessible technology that could stimulate our senses to fall asleep and provide the user with a dreamland sensation.”
Each component of the bed and its features are made up of entirely natural materials, enhancing the design’s appeal to sustainability. Additionally, the bed frame mimics the shape of a sailboat which will only enrich the user’s imagination. While these aspects certainly augment Nocturnal’s commitment to optimal rest, the defining feature is the design’s interactive programming. Nocturnal integrates haptic sensors and voice recognition technology in order to help maintain an intimate relationship with sleep, through visual, touch, and verbal feedback. Furthering that relationship, the underlying haptic sensors, inside Nocturnal’s mattress, adjusts to your body’s distinct contour, providing you with ideal comfort levels before falling asleep. Living with anxiety himself, Braga designed Nocturnal in order to supply those of us who suffer from varying mental stressors with a good night’s rest because sleeping’s for everyone, Nocturnal makes sure of it.
Talk about purrfect design execution! The Catzz kitty-bed is inspired directly by its feline occupant. Designed to be flat-packed, the Catzz is an icosahedral shelter for cats that comes with multiple triangular panels that come together to form the enclosed shelter. The clever bit, however, is the fact that the Catzz bed actually looks like a minimalist cat head, complete with two pointy ears!
Made from individual felt panels, the flat-packed bed can easily be assembled in minutes. When put together, it forms the perfect haven for your kitten, being a combination of robust and sturdy yet fuzzy and comfortable. The Catzz bed even comes with a dangling toy that you can suspend from the bed’s ear (for the cat to periodically play with), and when the bed does get dirty, it can easily be disassembled and machine-washed. Paw-sitively delightful, isn’t it?!
The Catzz Cat Bed is a winner of the A’ Design Award for the year 2020.
Working from home has disrupted the precarious balance of our routines in ways we could not have thought of before. Whether we realize it or not, we all have a ritual that sets us up for the day – may it be traveling to work, reading the paper or browsing news on your favorite app, all these little rituals have gone for a toss with us jumping out of bed to the screen every morning. And our nights suffer too – without an out time from the office, days just merge into the night and we truly don’t know where the day has gone, frustrating, isn’t it?! The impact of all these disruptions is felt at night when we try to sleep. We are here to help you create the perfect environment for a great, peaceful, and relaxed sleep. Each product showcased in this collection takes care of your sleeping needs to ensure you start your new day recharged and ready to face whatever comes your way!
An unlikely area of intervention for an automotive company, Ford’s now designing self-adjusting beds! Designed as a part of the Ford Interventions series, which uses automotive technology to remedy everyday problems, this is the Lane-Keeping Bed. As its name suggests, it prevents bed-space-hoggers from occupying more than half of the bed’s space. We move around a lot when we sleep (some more than others). This often results in inequality when it comes to bed-sharing. That’s where Ford’s quirky Lane-Keeping Bed helps bring back the balance. It uses Ford’s Lane-Keeping Aid technology, which monitors road markings to help guide the driver back into the appropriate lane, and a conveyor-mounted mattress that can roll/shift to always make sure your partner (or you) occupies the correct amount of bed-space.
The secret to a good night’s sleep also depends on how you finish that sleep marathon, aka the morning ritual. The Bariseur by designer Joshua Renouf is a pretty neat alarm clock that doesn’t jolt you awake with the radio or the annoying/disorienting buzzing noise. It brews you your favorite brew and wakes you up with a soothing alarm noise and a fresh beautiful wafting aroma! The Bariseur comes in a strangely comforting retro chemistry-set avatar that rests on your bedside table. Its carefully calibrated design ensures that your brew every morning is set to perfection because of the difference between a good and great day us usually in the taste of your first cup!
The napEazy was designed by Arvind Kumaran, Pradipta Sahoo, Soham Patel and Shanavas MS to be the one go-to pillow you could use when you’re away from your own bed. Whether at work for those quick power naps, or during your long commute, or even while traveling, the napEazy’s all-in-one nature makes it, well, as the name suggests… easy to nap. The concept was incubated at Airbus Bizlab, before evolving into its own independent company. The napEazy’s two-part design uses a dual-layer memory foam that’s just the right amount of soft while also being water-repellent and hypo-allergenic. A travel-case-inspired telescopic rod allows the napEazy to split into two, turning it into a prop-up pillow you can use to help you sleep forward or sideways while sitting, keeping your spine straight to avoid aches or posture-related problems.
Equipped with a built-in 4K projector that can be synced with a series of devices to binge-watch movies/TV shows on a 70-inch retractable screen, the HiBed by Fabio Vinella (for Hi-interiors) is the epitome of in-bed relaxation. A built-in surround sound system with invisible speakers makes the bed feel more like a movie theatre. The bed is connected to an app and monitors our sleep pattern and movements, adjusting the temperature according to our comfort. It also records body weight, air quality, and noise level to provide a foolproof check on our health. Some good news for the late risers, the HiBed comes with an inbuilt smart alarm system that wakes us up with loud recitations of the weather and daily news.
During the day, the Circular Ring by Amaury Kausman captures your activity, blood oxygen levels, energy levels, calorie burn count, among other metrics, while at night, the ring ambiently tracks your circadian rhythm and records your sleep quality, heart-rate variability, sleep disturbances, REM cycles, and sleep and wake times. Using pretty state-of-the-art data processing and machine-learning technology, the ring, its app, and the app’s assistant Kira help you collectively better understand your health and give you bespoke advice on how to improve it. Additionally, the app even has its own smart-alarm function that calculates the best time to wake you based on your sleep cycles, so you’re well-rested and energetic throughout the rest of your day. The ring uses subtle vibration pulses to coax you out of your sleep.
Nikola Tesla, Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Thomas Edison, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Buckminster Fuller. Do you know what all these geniuses had in common? They all mastered the art of productivity by hacking their sleep cycles to the fullest extent. Every single person has a different sleep requirement. Sleep assistants can be an app, or a wearable, but nothing is quite as effective as a smart headband. Designed for the explicit purpose of giving you precise control over your sleep, the Neuroon Open by Kamil Adamczyk is an open-source headband that can be used for effective sleeping, smart waking, deep meditation, polyphasic sleep, and lucid dreaming. The wearable comes in two parts, an EEG (electroencephalogram) that measures brain-waves, and an eye-mask that has LEDs within it, to help you wake up, or to trigger a lucid dream.
Imagine a place where everything is designed to help you fall asleep…Caspers’ Dreamery is designed by New York-based architecture firm HWKN, and is situated in the heart of New York’s most hectic neighborhood; SoHo. The Dreamery offers a tranquil escape through a 45-minute nap session in a private suite outfitted with their trademark mattress, pillows, and sheets (that are changed every session).
Nothing is more annoying that missing out on quality sleep because you left the drapes open last night. Designed to universally retrofit onto most curtain rods, Wonder Tech Lab’s SwitchBot comes with two hooks that hold it in place and a wheel that moves the bot left or right. Place the SwitchBot between the first and second loops of your curtain or blind, and the bot can now, on command, run up and down the curtain rod, maneuvering your curtains open or closed. SwitchBot runs on an app, but even supports voice commands via your phone or smart speaker, effectively allowing you to have your own “Let there be light” moment by commanding the curtains to open at will. IFTTT and shortcuts support even lets you sync SwitchBot with your alarm, or with the time of the day, thanks to the bot’s in-built light sensor.
Sidekicks, developed by Bandi during his MA at the Royal College of London, is a series of electronic devices and appliances that literally use your phone as their on/off switch. Designed as a desk lamp for working, a speaker for leisure time, an alarm clock for the end of the day and a projector for watching a movie, Sidekicks literally need you to dock your phone in them to work. Place your phone in the designated area and your gadget powers to life, allowing you to use it. The phone’s screen turns into the product’s interface, allowing you to control it, while limiting your use. By confiscating your phone in order to work, Sidekicks offer a much more ‘cold turkey’ solution to our smartphone addiction problems, punishing us at first, but eventually allowing us to consciously live in the moment
Still unhappy about having to wake up? Now you can channel your inner Thor superhero every morning with the Hammer alarm clock! That’s actually not far off from what the inspiration was for this clever clock. Designer Jorge Ros Gisbert wanted to create a way for people to wake up feeling strong and motivated each day instead of feeling defeated and irritating by annoying smartphone alarms. Your face is already buried in your smartphone enough as it is, but at least now interacting with your phone doesn’t have to be the FIRST thing you do each day. Instead, you must grab the hammer and slam it down on the rubberized base to shut off the alarm.
Falling asleep is asking your mind to let go of the thoughts plaguing it and to rest. Granted not all of us fall asleep with ease, but logic dictates conditioning your mind to sleep is better than to fall asleep with your phone throwing an onslaught of images at you while you drool on your pillow. So tonight, take some time to relax and soothe yourself in falling asleep for a better tomorrow!
Kerstin Pfleger’s multifunctional furniture shape-shifts to accommodate a work-from-home lifestyle. By day, it’s a desk-space for work, and by night, it transforms into a bed for two. How does it do it? By using a clever set of mechanisms that compress the bed right into the desk’s storage units!
Titled the Work/Sleep Balance, this morphing piece of home decor is ideal for tiny apartments, serving two purposes within a small footprint. The desk top is large enough to accommodate most of your work accouterments, while the cabinet on the side features a collapsible tri-axial bed frame that opens up to become a base for the mattress, which rolls right up and slides into a compartment in the desk’s back. The transformation takes around 2-3 minutes, allowing you to efficiently use your space to work during the day, and catch some shut-eye during the night!
When you think of the most extravagant beds, what comes to your mind? Bed with an in-built screen that pops up? A bed floating mid-air? A water bed that rocks like a cruise boat? Imagination runs wild and then it comes to this – the Three Sixty bed by Savoir that truly puts the extra in extravagant. As the name suggests, it rotates 360 degrees and is currently the most expensive bed on the market with a price tag of…I suggest you take a seat right now…$300,000.
This bed was born out of a First World problem – the client who contacted Savoir had bought a château in the south of France and couldn’t decide if they wanted their bed to be facing the fireplace or the windows looking at the garden and the idea of a luxury rotating bed was actually given form. Meanwhile, while I am buying a bed, I am just making sure it comes with an instruction card that is written in English and fits through my New York apartment door.
Now, even if I make it spin once a day, each rotation is roughly going to cost me $3000 for the year. The Three Sixty is meant to shock and dazzle from every angle, literally. You can change your view with a simple touch on their app. It also has reading lights, USB slots, and power outlets weaved into its sides along with glowing LED lights at the bottom to give it a levitating illusion. The expensive tag comes at the cost of 300 hours of skilled labor and the state-of-the-art turntable from Bumat, a company that usually makes them for the Geneva Motor Show. To make it even more exotic, the cotton velvet used in the headboard was sourced from Dedar and the topper was made from rare natural fibers of a Mongolian yak (I recommend you look Mongolian yak up to understand how snuggly this bed might feel).
There is no doubt that I haven’t seen a bed this obnoxiously rich but if I were to get a chance, I would absolutely take it and make sure it faces the gardens of my French château!
