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Pro-Active Furniture Assembly

Posted by Hemos on from the no-don't-put-it-in-there dept.

Gudlyf writes "Stavros Antifakos, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, has designed "clever" furniture pieces with built-in microprocessors that could relieve the confusion, anger and frustration of putting them together. The idea includes a flat-pack furniture kit whose parts are fitted with cheap microprocessors that monitor what you are doing during assembly and will warn you if you are doing something wrong or dangerous."

11 of 267 comments (clear)

  1. Your chair is ajar! by RatBastard · · Score: 4, Funny

    This sounds like a pain in the ass to me. But that's me.

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
  2. Sounds more like the ultimate nagware to me! by Nomad7674 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    How many of us want to hear "Error: Slot A should be inserted into slot B, not into dowel X" every time we try to put together a kitchen cabinet? I know some of my "best" work has included some errors that actually helped the overall design for *MY* use.

    Just my 2 cents

    1. Re:Sounds more like the ultimate nagware to me! by Matthias+Wiesmann · · Score: 5, Funny
      Then again, I imagine they could do a user-friendly version:
      No, not this way! did you count the screws? I told you to do it! Don't hit your fingers with the hammer! Now the cat is struck under... Why didn't you read the manual?
      Some people would argue that this device exists already, it is called a girlfriend...
  3. Dubious use of technology? by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe I'm getting crochety in my old age, but does this seem like a monumental waste of time/technology? Hell, how difficult is furniture to put together anyway? This sounds a lot like the blinking "12:00" thing. Why not just make improvements to the design itself so it's not so complex to put together. Are we talking about putting together space shuttle command chairs here or something? I assume the next version will have blue tooth and will send you pictures of the proper installation as well as play mp3's. It will obviously have to have a change detector for the couch version that automatically updates a website with the current total, as well as a volume/mass summary of lint and crumbs.

  4. Great... by Caradoc · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The cost of bookshelves will go up because people can't (or won't) RTFM.

    Am I the only one who sees a certain irony in this?

    In any case, you can't make anything foolproof - as soon as you do, someone breeds a dumber fool.

    --
    Specialization is for insects. - R.A.H.
    1. Re:Great... by crawling_chaos · · Score: 5, Funny

      To be reading furniture manualizations is easy. Understand not people say who hard to read they are.

      --
      You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
      -- Colonel Adolphus Busch
  5. Wait for it... by fobbman · · Score: 5, Funny

    How long before we see the /. article about someone getting the Linux kernel to boot in his futon?

  6. What about chairs that.... by Ieshan · · Score: 4, Funny

    What about chairs that scream alerts when we've been sitting in them for too long?

    "GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING USEFUL INSTEAD OF SITTING IN AND READING SLASHDOT!"

    "HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF A 300 POUND GUY SAT ON YOU ALL DAY." ...etc, etc. =P

  7. Re:What they really need this for... by liquidsin · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...miserably translated confusing manuals.

    Think hard. Is that what you *really* want? Instead of reading things like "tire now to be inserted where forks make vee-shape" do you want the bike saying it to you? I think I'd be laughing too hard to build a bicycle that kept telling me "All your training wheel are belong to back tire. For great justice, insert all handle-bar tassle." Maybe it's just me though...

    --
    do not read this line twice.
  8. Overheard... by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Funny
    Overheard whilst trying to assemble a (Zero) Wing Chair:

    "HOW ARE YOU GENTLEMEN."
    "Uhh...fine?"
    "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US."
    "Lesse...um...base...base...Ah! Here it is. OK, do I attach the Main Column (E) to the Base (A)?"
    "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DOING."
    "Great...OK...now I put the Main Screen (F) here...and the Zigs (M) go...here?"
    "MOVE ZIG."
    "Oh...here?"
    "MOVE ZIG."
    "Umm...er...here?"
    "TAKE OFF EVERY ZIG."
    "No, wait! It goes here, right? Or here?"
    "SOMEONE SET UP US THE BOMB."
    "Oh, c'mon, It's not that screwed up. Just lemme get my drill...and a hot glue gun..."
    "HA HA HA HA."

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  9. Re:Sounds familiar... by AJWM · · Score: 4, Funny

    Coming soon: rolls of sod with embedded chips that keep chirping "green side up!".

    --
    -- Alastair