"Robot furniture" into reality: the bed fell from the sky, the table through the wall out

According to the Wall Street Journal, a new type of smart home technology is becoming popular. This technology includes movable robotic furniture (robotic furniture), artificial intelligence systems, cameras, and more. All the furniture in the room can be moved, you just press a button, the messy bedroom will become a spotless living room. In addition, the room's cameras will automatically track the location of the items stored, which means that no matter where you throw things, the intelligent system can help you find it.

At the moment, this kind of robot furniture is expensive, selling for about $40,000 for a set of equipment. But people are working hard to reduce the cost of the equipment. In places like Durham and Buffalo in the U.S., the cost of a set of robotic furniture has dropped to $5,000. The people involved have installed these robotic furniture in apartments that cost $1,000 a month.

Hasier Larrea, CEO of German furniture company Ori, said Ori has partnered with IKEA on the project in 2019, and now Ori has launched a robotic furniture system that has a version on the market.

I. Telecommuting, rising prices, automated furniture usher in a wave

The biggest function of robotic furniture is that it can turn a single room into a multifunctional space, and if it can be promoted, it can help Americans reduce the pressure of rising housing prices.

Now, with office occupancy rates below 50% in most of the United States, more and more Americans are working from home. As a result, they are demanding more and more living space. And, because the U.S. housing market has been in short supply, rents have continued to rise across the country. In order to save on rent, people have to choose smaller living spaces or share a room with others.

In 2011, Larea was a researcher in MIT's City Science group when he began exploring the idea of "living bigger for less" and in 2015, he founded Ori. Today, Ori's mobile furniture systems have been installed in more than 500 apartments in more than 30 cities across the U.S., and Larea says thousands more will be installed in the next two years.