Need More Apartment Space? Robotic Furniture to the Rescue!

Two new concepts for gaining more space in close quarter apartments is described in a recent NY Times article:

Ori

Ori runs on a track and can be activated by voice command (“Alexa, have Ori make my bed!”) or by the touch of a square black button or a smartphone app. The furniture glides in and out of the living space. In a marketing video, jaunty indie pop plays in the background as a desk retracts into the Ori to create enough space for a woman to unfurl a yoga mat. Later, a man lies on a couch as a table with a glass of white wine moves to his meet his hand.

Bumblebee Spaces “A.I. butler” is a furniture system that deploys down from overhead by tapping a control pad or by voice command.

A queen-size Tuft & Needle mattress was suspended from the ceiling by four white seatbelt-like hoists. Mr. Murthy pulled out an iPad and showed me how to move it up and down. The bed moved fairly slowly, lights blinking around it as it rose and dropped. The white storage boxes dropped down more rapidly. The whole thing had the feel of a futuristic garage, with tracks, sleek white hoists and sensors that would pause the system if anyone ran underneath.

See the NYT article for the full treatment. Now to find a small apartment with high ceilings for $800/month…..