Furniture
that feels
A
team of Japanese researchers from Osaka University has designed
a set of emotion- sensing furniture that senses people’s
presence and gradually changes colour. Called Fuwapica, which
loosely translated means "soft and flashy," the
interactive set, which could be in shops, airports, museums, or
bars within a year or two, uses technology to extend people’s
emotional state into a room that may be devoid of ancient ideas,
say its inventors. "We want modern people like us to
remember that there was an interaction between people and
furniture," said Ichi Kanaya, assistant professor at Osaka
University.
Prof. Kanaya and
his team, working out of the university’s Mongoose Studio,
designed a round table that has a computer and built-in LCD
display and four air-cushioned chairs. The table and chairs are
linked to each other via a wireless signal. Colour sensors in
the table scan objects placed on top to determine their hue and
then the computer sends a signal to the chair to match the
colour of the object.
In a typical
scenario, a person might walk into a room furnished with
Fuwapica, place a memento or favourite item — say a blue vase
— on the table and sit on one of the chairs. Gradually the
chairs will begin to change from white to blue. According to
Prof. Kanaya, the brightness is controlled by pressure sensors
inside the chair. The higher the pressure, the brighter the
colour. "It’s a wonderful demonstration of integrating
high-tech into lifestyle experiences," said Jonathan Cagan,
professor of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in
Pittsburgh, PA, and co-author of The Design of Things to Come.
"It focuses on the pleasure that people receive from the
interaction, not on the technology," he said.
However, only
objects placed on the table do not dictate chair colour.Even a
casual sitter will elicit a response from the "chair
gods." — ANI
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