This Desk Helps Keep You Healthy By 'Breathing' A smart desk that moves up and down for sitting or standing, and keeps tabs on how many calories you burn through the day.
By Benjamin Kabin •
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Standing desks have long been praised by the likes of Facebook, Google and former secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld for their health and productivity benefits. But what about a desk that can enable you to sit or stand, and one that reminds you to change positions by "breathing"? Yes, it sounds weird, but the Stir Kinetic Desk is for real.
Created by a former iPod engineer, the Stir Kinetic Desk comes with thermal sensors to detect a user's presence and touchscreen controls to adjust between sitting and standing modes. And it breathes. Well, kind of. When set to active mode, the desk can remind you to switch from sitting to standing and vice-versa by slowly moving up and down a short distance. This feature is called "Whisper Breath," like the desk is "taking a breath of fresh air," the company says.
The Stir Kinetic Desk apparently can also customize when it prompts a person to sit and stand, and for how long, based on his or her habits. The desk is also equipped with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to sync with fitness apps, and it keeps track of extra calories burned from adjusting your working position throughout the day.
There's no doubt the desk is smart, and looks sleek, too. But with a Stir Kinetic Desk, your work surface is likely more expensive than the machine that's resting on it. At $3,890, the desk isn't just the height of technology, it's the height of luxury. Stir chief executive JP Labrosse compared the Kinetic Desk to an investment like a Tempurpedic mattress.
Kinectic desks will begin shipping early next year.
Other motorized desks like the Airtouch by Details for $1,200 won't set you back quite as far, but it won't learn what's best for keeping you healthy and energetic either.
Now if only we could develop a desk that does all of our work for us, too.
What crazy apps and gadgets have you come across lately? Let us know by emailing us at FarOutTech@entrepreneur.com or by telling us in the comments below.
