A recently-released concept designs for robotic furniture called “Roombots” are making their way towards the furniture of the future. The Swiss-funded EPFL Biorobotics Technology project demonstrates how this new breed of furniture has big potential for innovation and functionality.
Roombots are pieces of furniture made from two or more spherical robot blocks which can be attached to more blocks or other furniture pieces that were modified to have docking locations. These ‘lego-like” pieces can be latched on to pre-existing tables or chairs as long as these furniture items have docking mechanisms where the Roombot block can insert on.
Another interesting thing about Roombots is that their spherical shape is not only made by physical design, but it also allows mobility, thereby allowing Roombot furniture to move. According to researchers and scientists, this kind of furniture will be helpful to people with disabilities and the elderly as they can complete tasks with the help of Roombots. For example, a Roombot can bring a table across the room instead of making the user get up to grab an item that is on the table.
The Biorobotics team that designed Roombots acknowledge that they would need to develop a program so that the user can easily operate the bot. According to the team, the idea would be to use a table to “define the layout of a virtual room.”
Aside from Roombots, other types of conceptual furniture design for future furniture innovations are also coming out. One of these would be the “cloud chair”, designed by D.K. & Wei, which stimulates cloud comfort and has magnetic levitation technology.
Also recently, an MIT research team also produced a furniture concept that allows a dining table to sensor, detect and change its surface appearance according to the emotions and needs of the people surrounding it.
