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IKEA to launch robot furniture

Lifestyle
4 years ago
2 minutes

We all know the rate of our world’s population is growing at an unsustainable rate. As a result, many are turning towards technological innovations and design solutions to reduce the number of resources we use while simultaneously enhancing the way we live — which is exactly what one small American start-up has created.

Ikea has partnered up with ORI to combine the US start-up's robotic furniture system with the Swedish company's modular furniture. The result is Rognon, a storage solution which can convert from a storage and sofa area into a bed and wardrobe at the touch of a button, entirely transforming a room in seconds.

The L-shaped modular furniture comes with multiple compartments and pull-out features which move via a bottom rail. Those living in small apartments can rejoice — there’ll be more space for activities without feeling confined.

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“More and more people are living and moving into cities where approximately 1.5 million people join the urban population every week,” Ikea said in a press release. 

“This mass urbanisation is accelerating, and it creates heavily populated cities which are at the same time consuming both land and resources at an unsustainable pace.”

“We have been working with developing small space living solutions for a long time, and we know that some of the biggest challenges are storage and finding the place to do all the things that you want to do in your home,” Seana Strawn, an Ikea product developer, said in an interview.

“This is especially the case in big cities where people have to make compromises in the functions of their homes,” she added. “We wanted to change that. Instead of making the furniture smaller, we transform the furniture to the function that you need at that time.

“When you sleep, you don’t need your sofa. When you use your wardrobe, you don’t need your bed.”

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Ikea has indicated the Rognon line will launch in late 2020, targeting markets in Hong Kong and Japan first, with the intention of rolling the products out worldwide later.

Ori is a Boston-based furniture start-up comprising MIT media lab students and designer Yves Behar. We first wrote about it a few years ago when their initial concept was announced. 

Rognon is being presented as part of Ikea’s 2019 democratic design days, an annual conference which takes place at company headquarters in Sweden.

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