"I Have To Tell You About The Future!"

[3/10/2012]

Before I can begin designing a chair to be used by office workers 23 years from now, I’ll have to try and answer a near impossible question: what will life be like in 2035?

To try and make the unenviable task of answering this question slightly easier, I have broken Life In 2035 down into 10 categories.

1. Population – Help The Aged (‘cos one day you’ll be older too)

The ONS predicts that the UK population will rise to 73.2 million by mid 2035 with 15 million people over the age of 65. That means one out of every five people will be of “pensionable age”. Although the 65 year old of 2035 will be much more tech savvy than their 2012 equivalent [someone who is 42 now] they will still have the age-old, old-age problems of poor eyesight and limited dexterity. 

On the whole, the population of the UK is set to rise to 73 million which will mean this already crowded island is about to get even more crowded. This will lead to us having to use the space we have more economically.

Another possible solution is to build new “New Towns”. David Cameron floated this idea at a meeting in the Institute of Civil Engineering in London and vowed to build new towns that are ‘green, planned, secure, with gardens, places to play and houses full of character, not just car-dominated concrete grids’. If done properly these towns would be designed from the (under) ground up, fit for purpose in the 21^st century and hopefully something akin to Japan’s Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town. In the right hands this initiative could see the creation of new, eco-friendly living areas for thousands of people. In the wrong hands, it could see the landscape of 21^st century Britain blighted by concrete slums that wouldn’t look out of place in the Orwellian dystopias of many science fiction movies.

2. Energy – The Search For The Grail

It will be the great scientific crusade of the 21^st century: finding a renewable form of energy that can replace fossil fuels before they run out. For decades now, Nuclear Fusion has been seen as the Holy Grail but it has always remained frustratingly out of reach (see picture of metaphor left). The hope is that demonstration fusion plants will be running by 2030 but according to Steve Cowley, CEO of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, it will only be providing 20-25% of our energy by the year 2100.

That means that in the 21^st century there will need to be greater fuel diversity. If no one form of renewable energy can replace fossil fuels we will need the plethora of competing green energy technologies to step up and make a contribution. To be ready to do this by the time oil becomes unaffordable, they are going to need significant investment and they need it now.

3. Transport – Drivers? Where we’re going we don’t need drivers

Not the first – and I assure you not the last – Back To The Future reference contained within this series of blogs. With Nevada, California and Florida already passing laws that permit Google Maps’ driverless cars to take to the road, it’s not unrealistic to think that by 2035 they will be commonplace. With human error/wilful idiocy no longer a factor, the cars will be safer and will provide private transport to many who are unable to drive. Passengers in driverless cars will be free to do whatever they like. The morning commute will become part of the working day with employees remotely accessing their workstation via an onboard computer and working for the duration of their journey.

Another technology I hope we will see by 2035 is special induction charging lanes for electric cars. The concept involves placing induction charging pads under the road’s surface and a receiver pad under the car. With the car being constantly charged it could theoretically drive on these lanes for the life of the battery. The same technology could be applied to almost all forms of public transport and, provided the electricity was provided by a renewable energy source, could drastically reduce the carbon emissions caused by transport.

Having said all that, the only mode of transport I really want to be commercially available by 2035 is, of course, the Mattel Hoverboard (the original 2015 deadline set in BTTF Part 2 is looking increasingly unlikely).

4. Technology – Augmented Reality Bites

For the uninitiated, Augmented Reality is a live view of the physical world that has been augmented by the inclusion of graphics, videos and sounds to relay additional information to the user. The virtual scene generated by the computer is designed to enhance the user's sensory perception of what they are seeing or interacting with.

AR opens up a huge range of possibilities and could redefine the way we interact with technology and with one another (the line between the two becoming ever more blurred). A person wearing AR glasses or lenses could look at what is, in reality, a blank screen but see all of their work/media in front of them. This would prevent any sensitive information being seen by anyone not intended to see it and could make any office space instantly customisable. In addition, information about people, places or products could pop up on sight [which is great news for those of us who can never remember people’s names].

The picture above is a screen cap from a video produced by 2 art school graduates and shows how they imagine AR will be used in the not-too-distant future. Whether or not a “Wingman” app that allows you to negotiate the perilous waters of a first date more successfully is the most appropriate use for AR is debatable, especially given that this guy believes we’ll have robot girlfriends by then.

Along with AR, gesture control will play a far greater role in how we interact with our tech. From the moment we saw Tom Cruise in Minority Report we have all dreamt of the day we could use gestures to seamlessly interact with a giant touch screen. With the advent of the Kinect and many new TVs boasting similar gesture control capabilities, our collective dream could come true long before 2035 (unless of course someone had a different version of that dream, thereby creating a minority report).

Another technology that could have a profound effect on our lives is 3d printing. A wi-fi enabled home 3d printer could allow customers to buy a product online, download the CAD file and immediately “print” said product in their own home. Another potential benefit is that spare parts for products that have long since been discontinued could be printed on demand, greatly increasing the life span of our products.

The final technology of 2035 (that I will only briefly touch on) is nanomaterials. They have been touted as a panacea for all the scientific and engineering problems facing the world in the 21^st century but, at this point, what size of impact materials engineered on the smallest scale will make remains to be seen.

5. Internet – "I'm Captain Buzz Lightyear from Star Command: Who's in charge here?"- "The CLOOOUUUUUDDD"

By 2020, the number of Internet users will reach almost 5 billion - equal to the entire world's population in 1987. This compares with 1.7 billion users in 2010 and only 360 million in 2000.

Thanks to a combination of ever-lowering costs and exponential improvements in technology, huge numbers of people in developing countries will gain access to the web. Laptops that can be bought for only a few tens of dollars combined with explosive growth in the use of mobile broadband will see the World Wide Web become truly global. By 2035 even some of the most remote places on Earth will have access to the Internet.

In the UK, the internet will have permeated every aspect of our lives with almost all of our computing being done on the cloud. How we pay for things, how we consume media, how we interact with one another, how we learn, how we do just about anything will have changed almost unrecognisably from the pre-internet days of the early 90s. What we have seen in the last few years with the rise of the smartphone, (and the never-ending array of available apps) is only the beginning of ubiquitous technology.

6. Health – The First Rule of Fat Club is we have to talk about Fat Club

A recent study conducted by medical journal The Lancet predicted that by 2030 48% of men and 43% of women in the UK will be classed as obese. This means that by 2035 obesity-related disease is expected to account for over 12% of the NHS’ annual budget, an increase of 9% from the start of the century. This will put a massive (metaphorical and literal) strain on the health service and could lead to widespread resentment among those who have taken care of themselves that such large amounts of public money are being spent treating diseases which are mostly self-inflicted.

All fat jokes aside, as designers these statistics pose some serious questions: should we simply accept the fact that the chronically obese are now/will be a large (that one was accidental) user group and design with their weight in mind? Or do we design in a way that discourages or counteracts their self-destructive behaviour? At what point are we simply enabling a person’s addiction? If the statistics said that nearly half of all people in 2035 will be alcoholics or drug addicts, would we design products specifically so they can be used by the intoxicated?

7. Industry – It’s ALWAYS the economy, stupid!

The general consensus is that Britain has to become less reliant on its financial sector. We have all seen in recent years the danger in being so dependant upon a single industry. It has become clear (even to those in government) that we are going to need a greater number of industries if we are to prosper in the future and, in the process, make ourselves more immune to the vagaries of the international markets.

Our fearless leader, David Cameron, believes the life sciences industry can be one of the areas where 21^st century Britain will thrive. It already employs 160,000 people with an annual turnover of £50 billion. In addition, high tech car manufacture is already prospering in the Midlands with Nissan and Toyota’s plants there rated as the most efficient in Europe. And the renewable energy sector has also managed to thrive despite the double dip recession (and George Osborne’s cuts to their subsidies). The “Digital Britain” agenda has also helped turn part of east London into a hub for tech companies; now known as “Silicone Roundabout”. On top of all these new industries, Britain must continue to be a world leader in professional services and consultancy. With advances in telecommunications, British consultancies could effortlessly export their knowledge and expertise to every nation on earth.

Looking towards 2035 it has become evident that the type of jobs people will be doing will depend, at least in part, on the decisions our leaders make in the coming years. There will, of course, be new technologies or ideas that seemingly come from nowhere and take the world by storm (#didanyonethinkthiswouldbesobig?) but investing in the correct new industries now could go a long way to preserving Britain’s status as an economic superpower in the coming decades. Failure to do so could see us left behind by the likes of Germany before being overtaken by emerging economies like Mexico.

So we should all be grateful that the chancellor has an undoubted Midas touch.

8. Food – Vertical Thinking

The rapid rate of increase in the global population coupled with an increasingly volatile climate will lead to a worldwide food shortage in the coming decades. Although this could be an indispensable ally in the war against obesity it is, generally speaking, a bad thing. One possible solution is for cities to build Vertical Farms. These would effectively be skyscraper greenhouses that could be used to grow all our fruits, vegetables and grains. I won’t go in to the details but if you are interested a list of the concept’s advantages can be found here.

It is a very intriguing idea but seems like nothing more than that at the minute. How exactly it will function in the manner described by its creator, Dr. Dickson Despommier of Columbia University, remains a mystery but one it might be worthwhile trying to solve.

And we may also need some lateral thinking to solve this impending food crisis. Alternative foods like algae, fungi and seaweed (I daresay if you’re both obese and starving they’ll sound a lot more appetising) could also be considered.

9. Climate Change – Extreme Rules

By 2100, the average global temperature is set to rise by a minimum of 1.1 degrees and a maximum of 6.4 degrees. To put this into perspective, a 2 degree rise in average temperature is expected to lead to a 20% drop in crop yields in Southern Europe. It is also enough to threaten 15-40% of all species with extinction.

The melting of glacial ice will cause sea levels to rise by a minimum of 18cm and a maximum of 59cm by the end of the 21^st century. A temperature increase in the middle of the predicted range (3-4 degrees) has the potential to see major cities across the world, including New York and Hong Kong, perennially flooded. Even areas that remain unaffected by the rising sea level will see more extreme weather which could potentially turn crop growing into a lottery. This would lead to a rise in food prices and potential international unrest.

If we do not find a replacement (or replacements) for fossil fuels and are unable to curb our profligate use energy, we may need to look to more radical methods to halt, or even reverse, the rise in co2. One such example is the idea to use nanotechnology to create atmosphere filtration plants which could remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. According to Eric Drexler (nanotechnology expert and academic adviser at Oxford University) “molecular manufacturing capabilities based on advanced nanotechnology will make it possible to reduce co2 concentrations to pre-industrial levels within a short time span.”

So I guess it’s alright to leave my TV on standby after all.

10. The Home/Workplace – Defining (then Redefining) Genba

According to the ever-reliable source that is Wikipedia, Genba is” a Japanese term meaning "the real place." Japanese detectives call the crime scene genba, and Japanese TV reporters may refer to themselves as reporting from genba. In business, genba refers to the place where value is created; in manufacturing the genba is the factory floor. It can be any "site" such as a construction site, sales floor or where the service provider interacts directly with the customer.”

Given the vast improvement in teleconferencing technology and the need to use energy economically, I envisage many workers in the future no longer having to commute to a specific company-owned location. Of course there will still be lines of work which require people to go to the genba but many will either work from home or go to a general office “hub”. These hubs would be located in areas with the greatest population density to minimise the commute time for the maximum number of people (maybe in the new “New Towns” you read so much about these days). The offices themselves would be full of blank cubicles where all the aforementioned technology available in 2035 (AR, high-speed internet etc.) will allow workers to feel like they are in their own genba when actually in general office space. There would still be communal spaces like cafeterias and break rooms to ensure people continue to interact face-to-face and don’t become isolated in a virtual world.

The work itself may become increasingly based on the Results Only Work Environment strategy that sees employees paid for results and not hours worked. With employees free to choose what hours of the day they work (so long as they meet agreed deadlines), the bi-daily rush hour may become a thing of the past.

Conclusion – Tomorrow Never Knows What It Doesn’t Know Too Soon

The truth is, it doesn’t matter how intelligent you are – you could be one of the world’s top scientists and futurists –you will never be able to say with any degree of certainty what the future holds. You only have to look at some of the predictions made by some of the world’s most intelligent people in decades past to see that it is not an exact science.

From the brief research I conducted, these are the issues and technologies I believe will play a major part in all our lives come 2035. I fully understand that I could read this in 23 years time and be astonished by my own naivety. Or equally, in 2035 the world might still be recovering from the international nuclear war that has ended life on earth as we know it. In which case the chair of the future may simply be a rock where the radioactive zombies that have survived the nuclear holocaust can rest their weary legs.

So, given all that, I’ll leave you with the words of the man who knows more about the future than anyone else, Dr Emmett Brown:

“Your future hasn’t been written yet; no-one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.”

References
http://www.21stcenturychallenges.org/focus/britains-greying-population/
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/key_issues/Key%20Issues%20The%20ageing%20population2007.pdf
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2117393/New-towns-disfigure-UK-Fury-ditch-60-years-planning-law-bid-construct-new-garden-cities.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/fujisawa-sustainable-smart-town-future-model
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/23/fusion-power-is-it-getting-closer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19726951
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/unplugged-inductive-charging-on-the-road/1006269.article
http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/future-augmented-reality-technology
http://www.wfs.org/blogs/james-lee/investing-future-3d-printing
http://www.futuretimeline.net/subject/computers-internet.htm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/26/half-uk-obese-by-2030
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8933664/Euro-crisis-What-might-Britains-economy-be-like-in-2036.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/dec/13/britain-faces-food-shortage
http://www.ilookforwardto.com/2010/10/vertical-farms.html
http://www.explainingthefuture.com/climate_change.html
http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-12-10/smashing-the-clock
   

Focus Board: Office Chair

[3/10/2012]

A focus board is always a good place to start when you're looking for inspiration.

Parallel Products: Muvman

[4/10/2012]

Manufacturer’s description
Alternately sitting and standing. Always on the move. That is the secret of the "muvman". Thanks to the patented flexzone® technology the "muvman" gives you support whenever you need it. And freedom of movement when you want it. That is comfortable. That is healthy. That is sitting as it ought to be.
Leaning towards the perfect posture.

The "muvman" is tilted forward. This means you can always be at an optimum distance to your working surface regardless of your height and physique.
Find your equilibrium.

An intelligent seat that gives you proper support without causing pressure points. With lots of practical details such as the grip for easy carrying of the seat. Not to mention the design that has won national and international awards. The beauty of ergonomics.
Enormous height adjustment range.

You can quickly and easily adjust your sitting height to anywhere between 51cm and 84cm. The HIGH version even gives you a range of between 60cm and 93cm!

 

Sitting advantages like no other:
4° forward tilt of the spring strut: This means that you always sit at an optimum distance to your working surface - regardless of your height and physique. The "muvman" prevents you from hunching your back as easily happens when sitting high.

The muvman is available in blue, black, green and grey.

    Comfortable, super soft seat:
    No congestion of the blood circulation thanks to a flexible, adaptable seat edge.
    
    Movement comes from the joint in the baseplate:
    This keeps your hips free and flexible and your leg muscles active. This improves the transport of blood back from the legs to the heart.
    
    Stable baseplate:
    The non-slip, non-scratch rubber rim gives you firm support.

    Practical grip:
    For easy carrying of the "muvman" wherever you want to go

Thoughts
I really like the idea of a chair/stool hybrid that allows the user to move around while sitting. with obesity levels set to rise dramatically in the coming decades, an office chair that can in some way help to counteract a user’s tendency to sit perfectly still for long periods could have major health benefits.

Parallel Product: Leopard Chair

[4/10/2012]

Manufacturer’s Description
A new concept in seating! The world’s most advanced ergonomic seating, developed from Robot Technology.

The Okamura Leopard won the iF product design award, Office/Business category, one of the world’s most prestigious design accolades.

The Leopard, with its unique robot technology, reduces stress on the body, the unique mechanism gently supports your body for genuine relaxation.

With Ample variation to choose from to match any scene various tests validate Leopard’s ergonomic comfort!

     Embrace - The seat inclines forward to welcome you; Less muscle load means a greater feel of security. The seat compromises to meet you.
    Wraps - The raised seat position gently returns to a maximum incline of 25 degrees. The breathable mesh fabric backrest responsively cradles your body.
    Comforts - The backrest reclines tenderly to a maximum angle of 27 degrees, The unique design cradles you like a hammock providing snug and secure ergonomic seating comfort.
    Lifts - As you move to stand up from a reclined position the backrest and seat gently guide you forward providing natural support.

Awards

    Product Design Award 2010 - iF
    Universal Design Award - 2011
    Universal Design Customer Favourite - 2011
    NeoCon Innovation Award - 2010

Thoughts
I found the design and overall look of this chair very interesting. The idea that it tilts forward to allow an easier transition between standing and sitting could be very beneficial for older users and its stylish looks remove the sort of stigma attached to other chairs with similar functionality.

The Office of 1990

[9/10/2012]

Nelson Mandela freed from prison, Driving Miss Daisy receives Academy Award for Best Film, Ultimate Warrior defeats Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania VI, Hubble telescope launched, Boris Yeltsin becomes first ever elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Paul Gascoigne cries at World Cup, Maradona cries at World Cup, West Germany win World Cup 2 months before official reunification with East Germany, Mary Robinson becomes first female President of Ireland, Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice spends 4 weeks at Number 1, Channel Tunnel workers on both sides meet, Tim Berners-Lee creates the first webpage on the first web server, Mikhail Gorbachev wins Nobel Peace Prize and Home Alone becomes a global box office hit. The year is 1990 and people work in places like this:

In order to help me imagine what an office might look like in 2035, i thought i would look at a typical office from 1990.  If i can see how much things have changed in the last 22 years, it might help me envisage how much things could realistically change in the next 23.

The most obvious difference is the technology. The room is filled with CRT monitors that look to have a depth of around 25cm, These monitors are all sitting on top of a horizontal desktop PC (complete with floppy disk drive) and all rely solely on a separate keyboard and mouse for input. You can see the GUI on one computer is black and white with the other appears to only show greyscale. There is a landline phone on the desk in the foreground and i daresay there may be others dotted around. The phone itself has no display which would make things like a digital phonebook or caller ID impossible. Given that there was no internet, and therefore no email, the landline would have been the main method of communication with the outside world. Also visible are some (very large) printers and what looks like a fax machine. Again, before email this would have been an integral part of the work done in the office.On the far left of the room you can also see incredibly large, space-filling filing cabinets being used to house paper copies of documents.
Although the office looks a bit dated, the chairs themselves wouldn’t look too out of place in 2012 - at least relative to everything else.

I originally thought some of my ideas for the future were too outlandish and unrealistic given that 2035 is only 23 years away but having seen this photo i’m beginning to rethink that stance. The things that are not in the office speak volumes about how much times have changed since then and with technology advancing exponentially, 2035’s office will be further removed from 2012 than 2012's from 1990. Another thing that i also learned is that the design of the 2035 chair will be determined by future technology and how people interact with it. The basic function of a chair will always remain the same but its design should be optimised to meet what i think will be the needs of a typical user in 2035.

Derek Hodgson Talk

[14/10/2012]

It was great to hear the thoughts of someone with a wealth of experience in designing chairs. Learning about the history and evolution of office chairs was extremely helpful in helping us to better visualise what the chair of 2035 might look like. Getting to test out some high end chairs was also hugely beneficial. Given the significant amount of time people spend in their office chair, it is easy to see why many will invest large amounts of money on chairs they believe provide the most comfort and support.

Below is a series of photos of chairs from the designers Derek mentioned in his lecture.

3 Concepts

[18/10/2012]

Video Killed the Design Journal Star

[22/10/2012]

This is the video prototype for my “bespoke” chair idea. The video shows the first user (myself) working in a future office with a large wall screen being controlled by a tablet (and not by gesture control). What I found after several minutes of imitating gesture control was that my arms started to hurt and therefore i think it would be unrealistic to expect people to interact with technology in this fashion for prolonged periods. The video then shows the first user leaving, before another (Photogenic Phil) walks in. Having reset itself to the maximum width, height etc the chair then self-adjusts to Phil’s dimensions and he begins working. This scene was included to show what it would be like to work in general office “hub” where chairs in any part of the hub could be used by any worker. This sort of environment would require a chair that can adjust itself to any body shape, preferably with a minimal amount of effort required from of the user. This concept chair attempts to achieve that aim and, in that sense, would be universally “bespoke”.

Personally, I would have liked to have done the video prototype a little later in the project. The concept was very much in its infancy - i only had one page of sketches on it and i hadn't had a chance to discuss it with the group. The deadline forced me to make a cardboard model and then film users' interaction with it much earlier than i otherwise would have. Given this i don't think i gained a lot of insight from the video prototype although the skills I learned in video editing will be valuable going forward.

User Scenarios and Timelines

[26/10/2012]

 User 1
Name: John
Age: 25
Occupation: Computer Programmer 
Education: Masters Degree
Marital Status: Single
Dependants: None
Home Life: Renting accommodation
Working towards: Getting on the property ladder
Health concerns: Diabetes and obesity

John wakes up around 8am and immediately puts on his AR glasses. He ignores the advice of his “doctor” app and goes to the kitchen where his glasses guide him through making a full English breakfast before he takes his diabetes medicine. He checks his emails/facebook and watches the news using the voice commands and gesture control capabilities of his AR system.
    He leaves the house around 8:40 and gets on a driverless bus to the general office space (or “hub”) where he works. He goes to his own cubicle where he signs on to his employer’s (Skynet Technologies’) main system. The cubicle itself appears blank - identical to all the others in the hub - but through his AR glasses it appears exactly as he wishes it to. The chair in his office was an additional extra and, along with a flat surface, is the only physical product in the office. He is given his daily assignments by his employer and will be free to leave once he has finished his allotted tasks.
    He works from 9 until 11, then he takes a short break where he eats crisps and a bar of chocolate with a fizzy drink. He continues his work until 1 and then goes for his lunch in the main cafeteria. Once there, he goes for the fast food option and pays using his thumbprint. He sits with the only other Skynet employee and discusses the latest tech news.
    He returns to his desk at 1:40 and works straight through to 3pm by which time he has finished his assignments and is free to go home.
    Once home, John watches TV until 6 and then cooks the ready-made meal he is having for his dinner. After this he goes to his video games room. Sitting in his gamer’s chair in his gamer clothes (both of which can relay mild impacts to the user to replicate the impacts felt by his avatar) he spends the next 4 hours playing Call of Duty online with his friends. Due to the “full immersion effect” he experiences, John loses all sense of time and spends the evening snacking and drinking fizzy juice.
    At around 11 he finishes his game and goes to bed after removing his AR glasses.

User 2

Name: Mary
Age: 65
Occupation: Fashion designer
Education: Bachelor’s Degree
Marital Status: Married
Dependants: None but has 2 grown up children and a young grandson
Home Life: Home owner
Working towards: Saving enough money for retirement
Health concerns: Back and joint pain

Mary wakes up around 7am and goes for a shower. She goes to the kitchen where she has breakfast with her husband. The two talk about the day ahead before he leaves for the office at around 8:20. With no major health concerns, her husband has decided to work past the state pension age of 68 to earn more money for their retirement.
    Mary now mostly works from home and is seen as a mentor to the younger designers at her fashion label, Occasionally she will leave the house to go in to the studio or  to meet a client face-to-face. This morning she works alone in her home office sketching new designs on her tablet and rendering them digitally. She uses the gesture control on the large touch screen that occupies an entire wall of her office to specify the colour and fabric she wants. Given her back and joint pain, she mostly sits on a stool with extra lumbar support. This allows her to feel more at eye-level with the screen and helps prevent her joints from stiffening up. Once complete she sends the designs to a client in Dubai who then request a teleconference where they discuss a few minor modifications they would like to see. Mary duly obliges and sends the new designs before lunch.
    After a home made salad for lunch, Mary gets a call from one of her colleagues asking that she come in to the studio. With an important fashion show later that evening, her experience and expertise are vital to ensure everything is ready in time.
    She returns home around 5:30 and does yoga for an hour before she cooks dinner with her husband. Afterwards they watch an old 2-D film called The Notebook.
    Later in the evening they receive a video call from their son and daughter-in-law in America. It is her grandson’s 3rd birthday so she has sent her son a CAD file of a toy that she has purchased online for him to print on his home 3d printer. After seeing their grandson playing with his new toy, Mary and her husband wish him a happy birthday and then hang up.
    At around 10, Mary and her husband go to bed where they read for a while on their tablets before going to sleep around half an hour later. 

Name: Paul
Age: 45
Occupation: Accountant
Education: Masters Degree
Marital Status: Married
Dependants: 2
Home Life: Home owner
Working towards: Saving for children’s future/retirement
Health concerns: None

Paul wakes up around 7am and goes for a shower. Afterwards he goes to wake his children up for school and then they all then go downstairs for breakfast. The children eat their cereal in front of the TV while Paul eats at the breakfast bar with his wife Sarah who works as a lawyer. They discuss the day and decide that Sarah will leave work early to pick their children up from school and Paul will take driverless public transport home.   
    Paul, his wife and children leave the house around 8:30 and he drops the children off at school before making the short journey to the “hub” where he and his wife work. At the hub, all tenants have a small, dedicated office space while the rest of the large building is comprised of communal work environments. Paul begins the day by checking in at his firm’s space where he is briefed on the day ahead. The small team then teleconference with the firm’s main headquarters and also with other hubs. This morning Paul has an assignment to finish before lunch so decides to go to one of the cubicles where he can work without distraction. Paul is free to choose when he takes breaks and when he goes for lunch provided the work is sent to HQ before 2. He decides to work through until half 12 so that he can go for an extended lunch break with his wife.
    In the afternoon he has a meeting with a client so takes them to one of the meeting rooms within the hub. After the meeting, he returns to the firm’s space where he informs his colleagues and HQ about the meeting. He then spends the remainder of the afternoon working collaboratively with his fellow accountants in the firm’s space.
     Paul returns home around 5 which allows his wife to work a few hours from home. He helps his children with their homework before cooking dinner for the family. Afterwards they sit down together and watch television and play video games. The large wall screen and motion sensors allow for active gameplay with multiple players
    After their children have gone to bed, Paul and his wife watch a film together before going to bed themselves around 11.     

BBC Click

[29/10/2012]

Host Spencer Kelly with a 3D-printed model of his own face

I don't know if any of you have ever seen Click on BBC News 24 but if you haven't, I would highly recommend it. It is a 30 minute long weekly technology programme that looks at current and future technology and how it will impact our lives.

In the last year i have seen features on driverless cars, AR, induction charging lanes, 3d printing, Smart towns, Google's HQ, gesture control and a number of other things that have greatly helped me in this project. It's on several times over the course of the weekend and is also available in the iPlayer.

Kevin Coyle's "Day Off"

[2/11/2012]

Given that it's reading week at the GSA, the studio was closed today (2nd of November). To students on other courses this would seem like the ideal time to take a much-needed break. For PDE students however it was a chance to spend 12 hours assiduously making a CAD model. With the Steelcase poster deadline looming none of us had time to waste on things as inconsequential as relaxation, family or friends. On that note, the memorial service for our social lives is to be held this coming Monday at the University of Glasgow Chapel (we will, of course, be too busy to attend). With this being the first time we've had to present our work publicly, and given the venerable luminaries expected to attend, we all feel under pressure to produce something flawless that will undoubtedly grab attention.

From a personal point of view, i did enjoy working from home. My near 3 hour round commute to skypark can be more than a little wearing and i always feel like it is time lost. Working in comfortable and familiar surroundings without the deafening noise of PD doing whatever it is PD does was a welcome change. And given my general dislike of social interaction in all its forms, I definitely think it's a way of working that I could get used to. I even managed the superhuman feat of resisting the temptation to watch the 2 episodes of Homeland i have on my Sky+. An effort so valiant its surely worth an A for this project on its own.

Having said all that, a good day working from home can't compare to a bad day doing nothing. As Anton Chekhov once observed "There is no complete happiness without complete idleness."

And it's like i always say; life moves pretty fast: if you spend your days off making CAD models, you're almost guaranteed to miss it.

Steelcase Poster

[12/11/2012]

 

An office chair that uses a mobile app to automatically adapt to a user’s preferred settings

Given the expected advances in teleconferencing technology and ever rising energy prices, the office workers of 2035 will no longer be required to make the long commute to specifc company-owned locations. Instead they will work in general office spaces or “hubs”. Given that workers wll no longer have their own desk, hubs will require chairs that can adjust to any worker’s preferences automatically.

The Integrate Chair achieves this by using an app on a user’s mobile device to wirelessly transmit pre-defined preferences to the chair. This means that regardless of what chair the user sits in, it will adjust to their preferences without the need for any physical interaction.

Diagram 1

The first time the user sits in the chair they are prompted to download the “integrate chair” app. They then create a unique profile, customising the chair’s height, arm rest position and the curvature of the backrest.

Diagram 2

As the user approaches the chair, their default profile is communicated via bluetooth to the chair. There is also the option to have different profiles for different work environments.

Diagram 3

When the user sits down and the pressure sensor on the chair is activated, the automatic adjustments are made.

Diagram 4

The pivot ball at the base of the chair allows for a wider range of movement and keeps the back rest in constant contact with the user’s back.

Come On Over To My Place - Hey YOU - We're Having A Party

[29/9/2012]

After a deadline day so tense it didn't even need Jim White to give it a sense of drama, we were all in dire need of a bit of R and R. The office opening party at Steelcase would hopefully give us a chance to do just that while also being able to discuss our designs with some industry figures.


Arriving en masse in our jeans and trainers, we felt more uncomfortable than David Cameron on This Morning. We stood awkwardly in the corner where our boards had been placed in a sort of denim-clad phalanx waiting desperately for one of the affluent, well-dressed professionals to come and talk to us. After some time, and some greatly appreciated free drink, some did eventually come over to the corner where we had decided to make our stand. They all seemed taken aback by the quality of our posters - one told us that he only expected to see some concept sketches (which would have been great to know LAST week). Although some of the attendees must have wondered why Steelcase had invited this cosmopolitan group of vagrants to their party, those who knew why we were there were all genuinely enthused by what we had showcased.

Tony Watt scoring against Barcelona. Any excuse really.

Afterwards we made an effort to mingle with the crowd and talk to as many people as we could. Although, with my voice still shredded from screaming "Tony Watt, Tony Watt, Tony Tony Watt, Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah, Tony Tony Watt" at the top of my lungs the night before, i struggled to make any sort of conversation. As the first part of the night was drawing to a close i did manage to have a word with Steelcase designer Dan MacAllan. I explained my concept and its context to him and he gave me a lot of positive feedback which was very gratifying. He particularly liked the idea of the user's preferences being stored on a device that would be with them at all times and thought the idea could be expanded to other products like coffee makers for example. He was also intrigued by the idea of having a ball at the base of the chair to allow for movement in all directions. He said that to the best of his knowledge there was no chair on the market that allowed users to lean forward while maintaining contact with their back. Although some of his positivity may have been mere politeness, and some of it possibly due to mild inebriation, it was pleasing to have my idea receive such a reaction.


With the party moving on to Chandon d'Or and having had very little sleep, i decided to call it a night. From what i heard everyone that did attend the after party greatly enjoyed themselves and, according to gossip monger Phil Matthews, Sehoon in particular enjoyed the free bar.

Return To Steelcase

[22/11/2012]

i2i chair

8 days after the launch party we returned to Steelcase for a tour of the office. It began in the meeting room where Craig gave us a brief overview of what Steelcase do before being showing us some promotional videos. The first video was for the i2i chair that we had all been so impressed with on our first visit. The video showed the entire design process from concept sketches to the final product. It was a fascinating insight into the work that a designer does and what struck me was how many iterations the product went through before the final design was settled upon. The basic form of the chair seemed to be decided early on (in the video at least) but features like the base for example were designed (and redesigned) on numerous occasions.

node chair

The second video was for the Node chair. It is designed for use in an educational environment and features a personal worksurface and space underneath to hold a bag. It was fascinating to see how they started with a key insight (the need for greater flexibility when it comes to classroom furniture to allow for more interactive forms of learning) and turned it into a product. The video shows students and staff at Tribeca Flashpoint Academy in Chicago talking about the node and how it helps them to better engage with their classwork.

After the videos we were given the grand tour. We began at the hot desks where the sales team were working. Given that the desks have no permanent occupant, the think chair was chosen to complement them. This sort of situation is similar to my own hub scenario so it was good to hear their insights into such a work environment.

Next on the tour was the collaboration area (as modelled by Phil, Ken and myself on the Steelcase Solutions website). The ports built in to the table really make it easy to share work on the big screen opposite and the high backs provide a higher level of soundproofing/privacy that you might think.

We were then shown the more traditional office area. These desks are designated to specific employees who occupy them for long periods every day. What i found interesting was the smaller table at the side which is designed for people to sit on (the top can also be padded to make this functionality more obvious). This avoids the awkward situation that occurs when someone comes to talk to you briefly and you find yourself having to look up to talk to them.

Last, but by no means least, on the tour was the atrium that Steelcase share with all of the building's occupants. They have furnished this area with 4 armchairs and a sit/stand desk and invited all staff employed in the building to use it as a collaborative workspace (although only one person has taken them up on this invitation so far).

The atrium was by far my favourite area of the office. I find it baffling that no-one would want to work there (they would probably have preferred that it remain somewhere to dump their bikes). With an unparallelled level of natural light and a cathedral-high ceiling, it seems like the perfect place for creative thinking. The architecture itself is stunning: the marble walls and art deco features remnants of a time when Glasgow as the second city of the world's largest empire.















Despite all that, the highlight of the day didn't come until right at the end. As we were preparing to leave Nick Lyons joined us to discuss Steelcase and their product range. One of the problems he identified was that many users are unaware of how to properly adjust their chair and said that the company had started putting QR codes on products to direct users to the instruction manual. At this point, Craig told him about the app in my concept which he hailed as a "great idea". Sadly my subtle attempts to get him to attach a monetary value to its greatness were in vain. But I'll try again in a few weeks time.