Herman Miller Gets into Gaming

We actively worked with Herman Miller innovation, so used their office layouts in our innovation centers.  So this is a bit of a surprise.

Herman Miller is getting into gaming
The famed furniture design company turns its attention to e-sports   By Andrew Webster in The Verge

Herman Miller, the furniture company perhaps best-known for the iconic Eames Lounge Chair, is getting into gaming. Today the company announced a partnership with Complexity Gaming — an e-sports organization with teams in Dota 2, Call of Duty, and more — that will see the famed furniture design firm expand into competitive gaming. As part of the deal, Herman Miller will become Complexity’s “official seating partner,” and the company will also set up an e-sports-focused lab at Complexity’s Texas headquarters. ... '

Furniture Creates Activity Goals

We worked with Herman Miller on testing advanced furniture. This seems like the simplest idea for office furniture.  If you still spend most of your time in the office.

Herman Miller debuts new smart office furniture that sets activity goals
Like a Fitbit for your desk  by Dani Deahl  @danideahl

Also in Wired:  The Maker of the Most Iconic Chair Wants You to Stand Up.

Using the Perfect Office Surface

As part of our innovation spaces we worked with office furniture manufacturers to scope out the needs of the future office.  The question was always if there would be substantial offices in the future at all.   And can such offices significantly influence creativity?   Can the use of 'surfaces' in offices as displays and design spaces make a difference?    While augmented reality all these spaces to exist anywhere?   In Engadget:

Microsoft and Steelcase envision the perfect Surface office
They've unveiled five "Creative Spaces" with office furniture for Surface products.

Steve Dent, @stevetdent

With the Surface Book, Surface Studio and other products, Microsoft has managed to attract graphics pros, designers and engineers, many used to working with Apple products. It's now taking the next logical step by expanding into workspace lifestyle concepts via a partnership with Steelcase. The two companies have unveiled "Creative Spaces," which are office furniture layout concepts optimized to work with Surface products.

There are five sets of new products. The "Focus Studio," designed with Microsoft's Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 in mind, gives workers "alone time to focus and get into flow, while also allowing quick shifts to two-person collaboration." Meanwhile, the "Duo Studio" lets designers work in pairs or individually via a Surface Studio all-in-one. It also includes a lounge area for creative review with others on the giant-screened Surface Hub, an interactive white board.

The "Ideation Hub" is also a conference-style space that lets colleagues work on ideas in person or remotely on the Surface Hub. "Maker Commons" is aimed a rapid prototyping "hackathon"-style teams to "encourage quick switching between conversation, experimentation and concentration," using a mix of devices like the Surface Hub and Surface Pro laptops. Finally, the "Respite Room" is a fully private space that lets you relax and think.  .... " 

Aeron Chair

In FastCodesign: A look at the history of Herman Miller's iconic Aeron Chair.   Known for being common in pre crash startups.  We worked with Herman Miller in the innovation space and put some of their designs in our spaces to inspire creativity.

IKEA to Sell Furniture that Charges Devices

At least with Android devices.    I am a long time follower of office design that embeds technology. Despite how that is seemingly becoming obsolete.    Was unaware of this line, but look forward to wireless clutter.   " .... IKEA Will Start Selling Qi Wireless Charging-Enabled Furniture In April 2015 ... " .  More on Qi Wireless.

Herman Miller's Living Office

We worked with Herman Miller in the area of innovative office design.  This is a short article on their concept of the living office.   Although I have not been close to this space for a while,  methods like P&G's Business Sphere are related.  More about the Living Office concept.

Eames Documentary Online

Worth a look. We worked with Herman Miller on innovation projects: PBS Eames documentary now online:

If you're at all inter­est­ed in design and archi­tec­ture of the 20th cen­tu­ry, you're like­ly famil­iar with the work of hus­band and wife team Charles and Ray Eames, who are respon­si­ble for some of the most famous fur­ni­ture designs of the mod­ern era, many of them for Her­man Miller. PBS's Amer­i­can Mas­ters Series has a full episode (nar­rat­ed by James Fran­co!) ded­i­cat­ed to the duo, which you can now watch online. We sug­gest you do, if you haven't seen it already...."

Working Habitats : Office Evolution

Herman Miller, the creator of the widely praised, iconic Aeron chair, was one of the collaborators with our early innovation center projects. We tested office novel office space designs with them. Now they are talking about ...

" ... an approach that allows for physical buildings to dynamically evolve and support change. ... The initiative, Programmable Environment, is a spatial system designed to evolve over time, interact with the users who inhabit it, and enable a more sustainable building infrastructure. The company created a subsidiary, Convia, to specifically focus on this vision ... ".

The problem with offices in the enterprise is that as people become more powerfully mobile they don't need to be in offices. If this kind of interface takes off the trend may accelerate. So the number of offices and thus furniture requirements have been dropping. Remote interaction options are also increasing and evolving. Here is an advanced example: Qwaq. If an office could be set up to greatly increase efficiency, there would be additional value. But if I have to be in an office, the Aeron chair I am sitting on now sure is comfortable.