Say Goodbye to Your Desk
Photographer: H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStoc/Archive Photos Creative via Getty Images
The desk of the future knows you, perhaps all too well.
It's a sit-or-stand desk, of course, but it's outfitted with sensors that learn your habits and preferences through constant vigilance. When you've been sitting too long, a gentle vibration reminds you to stand. Your chair, also lined with sensors, tells the desk you stood up; the desk, which knows your height, adjusts accordingly. All the while, it monitors your keystrokes and mouse clicks, offering you (and your boss) helpful advice on ergonomics—and productivity. Soon enough it knows whether you need a desk at all—a real question at $10,000 per desk per year—or if you can be consigned to the hot-desking pool, where employees are allotted workspace depending on their demands that week, that day, or that hour.