Furniture Business News

Furniture puts on chameleon show

August 10th, 2007

By Mark Ward
Technology correspondent, BBC News website, San Diego

An interactive table and chairs that can change colour has been developed by Japanese researchers.

On display at the Siggraph show, the Fuwapica furniture uses sensors embedded in the table-top to work out the colour of items placed upon it.

The colour of the stools then change to match the colour of whatever has been placed on the sensitive table-top.

Sensors in the stools also work out the weight of anyone sat on them - heavier people are treated to darker shades.

Pulsing colours

The circular table acts as the central control point for the four stools. Sensors sit beneath a glass plate on the top of the table and scan any object placed on it.

The sensors bounce red, green and blue light off the objects in frequencies that humans cannot see and records which hues are reflected.

An Apple Mac buried in the table then sends wireless messages to the four stools, which project light through their translucent shells to match, as closely as possible, the colour of the object on the table top.

The colours are also made to pulse lighter and darker at about the same tempo of human breathing in a bid to make the stools seem more life-like.

Placing many objects on the table-top makes the system mix and merge colours to match the shades seen in the collection of artefacts.

The designers suggest that people can change the colour of the chairs to match their mood.

Dreamed up by Shinya Matsuyama and colleagues from the Studio Mongoose design company in Japan, the Fuwapica furniture draws on the country’s ancient notions that gods inhabit every manmade artefact, be it chopsticks, dishes or tables.

The designers say that instead of furniture being inert and silent, it should be given a chance to interact with the people that use it.

Entry Filed under: Furniture Indonesia News