With technology racing forward at a breakneck speed, furniture designers and manufacturers have had to adapt to the new way that people use their products. Future furniture design will be more focused on providing function to the technology around them. With emerging wireless technologies and new wireless internet technologies, our furniture and appliances have more opportunity to be integrated with each other and with the technology we use every day.

Wireless Charging

One major example where future furniture design is already making its way into our homes is furniture with wireless charging capabilities. You may know wireless charging from its rudimentary consumer forms, where the phone or other object that needed a charge had to be placed on a large pad. These pads take up space that can't be used by other objects, making them just more inconvenient than they are convenient.

But with emerging wireless technologies, furniture can now be built with wireless charging capabilities. Using a complex method with magnets, tiny chargers can beam electricity over the air to a chip inside of a phone, TV, lamp, laptop, remote control ��� anything! These chargers can be built into the walls, desks, or even your couch. Imagine sitting at your couch and not having to worry that your iPad is going to run out of battery in the middle of a movie. Those are the kind of situations that future furniture design is taking into account. For now, more emerging wireless technologies are being built into desks for business applications, but the goal is to have wireless electricity soon become an integral part of every piece of furniture in your home.

Bluetooth Control

You might know Bluetooth as the technology that powers a wireless phone headset or a wireless mouse and keyboard set-up for your desktop computer. Though it's been around for years, the next generation of Bluetooth, dubbed Bluetooth 4.0, is an emerging wireless technology that will soon control your entire home. Bluetooth 4.0, unlike other wireless communication technologies like Wi-Fi, takes up very little power. You may never need to charge a new keyboard featuring Bluetooth 4.0.

Bluetooth 4.0 has the potential to change future furniture design forever. With Bluetooth 4.0, your furniture would no longer be isolated. Everything would be able to talk to each other. Your cell phone can talk to your oven, allowing you to change the temperature from the couch. Speaking of changing the temperature, you can now turn on the A/C or heating from your couch as well.

Even more importantly than controlling your furniture from your phone, however, is how all of these objects will be able to talk without you having to do a thing. For example, when you wake up in the morning, your alarm clock could tell the coffee maker to start up. When you get home after a long day from work, your cell phone could automatically tell the lamps in the house to turn on, or the oven to start pre-heating to a certain temperature. Bluetooth 4.0, as a powerful new wireless internet technology, has the opportunity to automate your life in a way that previously wasn't possible.

Subtle Design Enhancements

Not everything will be a massive shift, however. Some of the most intelligent future furniture designs might be as simple as adding small speakers to your couch. Older furniture was not designed for the kind of technology we have today, and cord management has become a big issue. Furniture is also getting smaller. As we transition to having more and more of our lives stored digitally, the need for storage space drops. It becomes much more important how our furniture interacts with our digital objects. That's why lamps with iPod docks and furniture with Bluetooth speakers are becoming more popular ��� they speak to the technology we use every day. More and more furniture will start moving towards this interaction with technology, until (new wireless internet technologies) are integrated with everything we own.

Resources

• Furniture Meets the Digital Age ��� New York Times article on subtle design enhancements in contemporary furniture designs.
• How Bluetooth 4.0 Will Change Remote Control ��� Article on (emerging wireless technology) Bluetooth 4.0.
• The Power of Bluetooth 4.0: It'll Change Your Life ��� CNET article on the future of Bluetooth 4.0.
• Top 10 Wireless Charging Developments in 2012 ��� Article on ten wireless charging developments last year.
• Wireless Powered Furniture ��� Short article and video on wireless charging through furniture.
• Gill to Offer New Wireless Charging Technology for Furniture ��� Furniture Today article detailing another company offering wireless charging furniture.
• Cables and Sockets are Out ��� C+P page on their wireless technology.
• The Next Generation of Wireless Power is Happening Today ��� Article and video on Qualcomm WiPower technology.
• Power Up: Wireless Charging a New Desktop Option ��� Cabinet Maker FDM article on wireless technology in office furniture.
• Power play: Wireless Charging at a Distance Arrives ��� PC Advisor article detailing the technology behind wireless charging.
• Qi Standard ��� Home page for the Qi wireless charging standard, giving an overview and a page for existing products that use the technology.

by: Kylie Richardson